Gathering Rain
by Ijin
Summary: STORY COMPLETED!Charmed by the moonlight and his eyes, Kagome accepts the demon lord's gift a pale chain that will bind her to him forever. But... does she want to stay with him?
1. Moonlight

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.  
**A/N**: This is the first fic I've decided to publish. It's been long finished, but since has decided to ditch review responses, I decided to re-vamp the story a bit, spelling and grammar-wise. Enjoy!

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**Chapter I - Moonlight**

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This was the time of day I liked best. The wind whispering to me, softly caressing my face. The sun had gone to sleep some time ago, everything around me devoid of colour, but still visible to my eyes. The young night never failed to soften my mood. Indeed, this was the time of day I liked best - and still do.

The little girl, my charge, and my servant Jaken back at the castle, I was sitting quietly in the crown of the Goshinboku tree. The same tree my half brother had been pinned to for fifty years, hibernating and waiting in his sleep for... her. Again, I took the beautiful thing I held in my hand - a necklace of white gold, so fine it was almost invisible - and admired its gleam in the pale moonlight. My fingers held it firm and pulled apart, but the necklace would not give. It was made so the most powerful beings could not undo it.

A small noise coming closer was the only warning I had of her coming. Soon she was there, directly under the tree, panting somewhat under the weight of her huge yellow backpack. The gods only knew what she carried inside that made it so heavy. She looked back the way she came, listened for a while, then took up the yellow monstrosity and proceeded to the well, her gaze on the wooden frame with a look of longing. When she was almost on the well, I decided it was time to make my presence known.

When I appeared in front of her, faster than her human eyes could follow, she gasped with surprise, but then quickly settled, and bowed to me. Since the day she got to know Rin, my charge, somehow she appeared to have decided I was not a danger to human girls. About this, we will see. From that moment on, she also gave me the proper respect that was owed to the Lord of Western Lands.

"Good evening, Lord Sesshoumaru", she said quietly. Her eyes darted to the well and back again; as if she did not want me to know of the interest she had in that dried-up hole in the ground. She dropped her bag to the ground where it landed with a soft thud.

"Good evening, Kagome", I said. I had stopped calling her 'wench' or 'miko' a long time ago.

Silence followed. She did not look up to look me in the eyes; rather she looked everywhere else, her senses still directed to the village she came from. I guess she was trying to hear if Inuyasha was coming after her.

"I have not seen you for quite a while, Kagome", I said. She nodded. "I had to learn for exams, Lord Sesshoumaru."

I did not know what these 'exams' were, and did not wish to pursue this topic further, but she went on.

"I am thinking of attending college - but it will be very hard with the shard hunting. College is quite expensive where I come from. At least I have graduated from high school with somewhat acceptable results." she continued, as if talking to herself.

"Where were you heading to, at this time of night? Does not my half brother need you to find the shards for him?"

She sighed. "Well, since Naraku is dead, and with only a couple of shards left to collect, I thought I might as well… go home for a while" She turned her head now to cast a look behind her. "Your brother has another shard detector on his hands now, you see."

She must have seen my raised eyebrows, because she continued: "I was thinking about it. In the last time I have found my feelings for Inuyasha somewhat… lacking in passion." She brought her fingers to her lips and suddenly said: "I must be boring you, Lord Sesshoumaru, please forgive me. I must be on my way, anyway. If you will excuse me?" She bowed again and made an attempt to pick up her heavy bag again. I brought my clawed hand to her arm to stop her from leaving.

"I wish to hear of it", I said. She gave me a look of disbelief, but followed as I gestured for her to sit on the wooden well frame. She obeyed and crossed her arms before her chest, as in defence.

"Kikyo joined us after Naraku was dead. She also softened somewhat." Kagome looked at the stars above and seemed to concentrate on a single one. "I agreed to give her a larger part of my soul. She knows her body won't hold much longer anyway."

"You gave her another part of your soul after she tried to harm you so many times?" My voice must have sounded harsh, because she looked at me with large eyes, biting her lips.

"It is only temporarily," she said, as if in defence of her selfless deed. "Kikyo knows her time on earth is coming to an end. She will be dead by the end of this year." Her look wandered to the village path again. "Can you hear something coming this way, Lord Sesshoumaru?" she inquired.

"He is sleeping in his tree", I said. Nothing was to be heard of my overly loud half brother.

She sighed. "So, well, she stayed with us. I thought it would be hard, but I agreed to it, knowing it would make her happy to meet her end close to her loved ones - her sister lives in that village also, you know"

"I know the old miko, Kaede", I said.

"But I don't feel anything" Kagome was whispering now so even I had to listen hard to hear her. "I even caught myself being happy for the two of them." Now she was fidgeting with the small jar of jewel shards she had hanging from her neck by a leather band. "I think I miss loving Inuyasha more than I actually miss him when he is not by my side." She smiled softly. "He is very disturbed by this, I guess, but my feelings have dried up. Why am I telling you this?" she sniffed. At once her eyes were wet, gleaming in the moonlight, not unlike the necklace I still held in my sleeve.

"Because I was curious", I said.

"You always watch and want to know about anything and everything, Lord Sesshoumaru. I guess it is one of the sources of your power"

"One of them, yes"

"Some people would accuse you of being plain nosy" Kagome raised her brows, delicately painted on her pale skin. I held up the necklace to her, and she looked at it, curiously, but without longing other people would show for such a beautiful piece.

"What of it?" she said, mildly interested.

"I want you to put it on", I said with as much indifference in my voice as I could muster.

"What for?"

I stayed quiet for a moment. Then I said, looking into her eyes:

"Because I wish it so." I could see fear in her eyes, and curiosity, and a small hint of tears from before. My will beckoned her closer to me, to my hand, holding out the necklace. Dreamlike, she stood on her feet before me and lifted her hair for me to put the necklace around her pale neck. I could see her jugular vein beating under her pale moonlit skin, and a small hint of red tinting her cheeks, before I fastened the chain and let it rest on her skin. The seal was in place, the unbreakable chain just there where I wanted it to be.

Kagome's eyes, black in the dark of night, cleared abruptly. She fingered the necklace with uncertain fingers, and then looked at me.

"It is very beautiful, Lord Sesshoumaru", she said. "But what do I do with it?"

My head went down until my lips were the same height as the fragile shell of her ear, the claw of my forefinger stoking the stubborn chin to lift her head and make her pay attention - and pay attention well.

"Now that you carry my necklace, you will do as I wish." I paused; to make sure she had heard me and understood what I was saying. Then I continued: "Pet"

Her eyes widened, eyebrows almost touched her hair, her jaw almost fell to the ground. "What did you just say?"

She could not read anything in my face but uttermost seriousness - she knew I was serious. I did not say anything else.

"But - why?"

"Because this Sesshoumaru wishes it so", I said. "Come, let us go before my brother decides that he has let you stroll around on your own long enough."

She took up her yellow backpack in a gesture of obedience, but then cast me a look of malice I had not expected to see on her face, rather on that of the other girl, the one my half brother had fallen for long time ago. Still leaning on the well frame, she let her weight pull her backwards, into the dried-up well, and before I could grab her and hold her, Kagome was falling, deep into the darkness.

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	2. Talks at Night

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: This is my first fic I decided to publish. Be nice to me! If you think I deserve it, please review. Rating may change, although I doubt it. Cheers to my beta, who is also my sister, Raijin.  
Thank you reviewers! I really appreciate them - so keep 'em coming!

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**Chapter II – Talks At Night**

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There are things that annoy me. There are people who annoy me. Take my half brother, for instance. He never failed to annoy me. But, I never failed to annoy him, either. After Kagome had fallen through the well, there was nothing I could do but wait. She would come to me in time, the necklace around her neck ensuring that she would always find her way to me. I made my way slowly to the tree where Inuyasha was sleeping, giving him time to prepare himself for my arrival.

He was prepared.

"Well, if that isn't my stuck-up royal big brother," he said. I gave him a mild glance. Soon he would have even more reason to be angry. His hand was resting reassuringly on Tetsussaiga's hilt. The sword that had cost me my arm.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, and then sniffed the air around me. "Hey! You smell of Kagome!" He looked around him, then jumped down from the tree and went to the old miko's hut.

"Kagome?" he called. No one answered, of course. I decided to follow him when he entered the hut. I could as well spend the time until Kagome came inside. Maybe I could intimidate the inhabitants of the hut enough to offer me some tea. When Inuyasha turned around to leave the hut again, he bumped face-forward into my armour. He looked me straight in the eyes – he had never had even the slightest hint of good manners on him - and snarled:

"Where is she?"

"Through the well," I said. "She will be back soon enough, your little pet."

He took a step back. Behind him something stirred, everyone was wide awake now, probably expecting me to bring doom over their humble hut or something along these lines. I did neither, but instead took off my shoes and sat down in a civilized manner.

Inuyasha sat down heavily. The young girl that looked like an older version of Kagome sat next to him. Her sister, the old miko, left the room for a moment with the remark she would get some water for tea.

"What brings you here, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Kikyo did not look well in the light of the small fire. I guess it was the look that was expected from someone who had spent the last fifty years being dead. The old miko offered me a cup of tea which I accepted with a nod. So we sat in silence until my brother could not hold himself back anymore. Patience was never one of his strengths.

"Come on, Sesshoumaru, tell us what you are doing here." He leaned closer. "I am getting impatient."

"You were always an impatient one, Inuyasha," I said. "We are waiting for Kagome, of course."

"Yes, _we_ are waiting - what are you doing here?"

"She has something that belongs to me"

"Are you saying that she stole something from you?" Kikyo asked, unbelieving.

"No, I am not saying she stole something from me. She merely has something on her that belongs to me."

I could see my brother seething with anger and suddenly, I felt young again. There had been a time - long, long ago - when he and I used to live together with our father and his mother and I used to do things to him that older brothers tend to do to their younger siblings. Taunt him, tell him that he was adopted or found in the woods, hang him upside down or let him dangle out of the window, things like that... But this was not the time to hang on to old memories.

"Now what do we do about that?" The old miko offered me more tea. I accepted. She brought me the cup and then took place on the floor next to her sister again.

"Now we wait," I answered, enjoying the aroma of tea and my brother's anger. Already I could feel Kagome nearing the well on the other side - the pull was getting less strong, but it was still strong enough to draw her to me irresistibly. Only with me would she find peace, and that was just what I wanted.

With the rain setting in, I could hear the soft tapping of heavy raindrops on the roof above our heads. Soon the whole scenery was draped in heavy veils of warm rain, fog rising from the hot ground and transferring us into a ghost world, with only ourselves for company. The scent of rain filled the room. Inuyasha inhaled it with relief.

I looked at my brother's face, lit only by the small fire in the middle of the room. He did not seem to notice that the dead girl was holding his hand. He was looking into the flames, casting me a dirty look from time to time. His ears were twitching. He did not seem to like the smell of the dead girl, to me simply a neutral scent of earth and bones. To my nose, it was as if she weren't there at all. But my brother seemed to mind it. Maybe it was only my imagination, but it occurred to me that when a part of Kagome's soul went to Kikyo, she gave to her the part of her soul that loved Inuyasha. Now Kagome was left without her feelings for my half brother, Kikyo was tortured by her feelings for him, and Inuyasha was insecure, because he was left without the blessing of Kagome's love and with the affection of someone whose scent he hated. This was muddled to no end, and I decided that it was a good thing to take Kagome away from this mess for a while, at least I thought so.

Suddenly a fast movement from Inuyasha woke me from my dreamlike state. Within moments we were on our feet, looking through the open door. A shadow was nearing through thick curtains of rain, coming ever closer, until it cleared to our eyes and we saw Kagome standing in front of the entrance, still in the rain. She stopped and looked at me. Not at my brother, not at anyone - it was me she was giving all her attention.

Instead of feeling flattered, I felt a short feeling of... almost fear. Her eyes were blazing with anger when she stepped into the house. She was dripping with water, the forms of her body clearly visible under her dress. The old miko helped her come in and wrapped a blanket around her body and a clean white rug around her head to make her dry and warm and keep her decently covered. Kagome fell to her knees. I noticed that her feet were bare. The call must have dragged her right out of her house, without even the time to dress herself properly. On hands and knees, she crawled closer to me, until her face almost touched my chest armour.

"This was the most unpleasant night of my life," she complained. "This... thing you put on me dragged me right out of the tub. You are lucky I managed to get dressed before I jumped into the well."

With a weak hand she hit my shoulder and leaned her head against it. "My mother thought I was mad when I ran past her without even as much as a goodbye. She will be very worried, Lord Sesshoumaru, very, very, very... worried..."

Kagome's voice faded and her whole body sagged against me. Inuyasha immediately jumped to his feet, ready to annihilate me, or so it seemed. I held her arm until her head came to rest on my thigh. She stretched her legs away from under her body, which she seemed to find a comfortable sleeping position, and slept, drenching my clothes with her wet hair.

"Here is Kagome," I said.

"I'm not blind!"

"But I do suspect that you are stupid." There is only a limited time I can hold myself back from taunting my brother. This is probably a major character flaw, but there, everyone needs a hobby...

Inuyasha watched me with suspicion, barely holding himself back, probably in respect that Kagome had put her head conveniently near my poison claws, while Kikyo, eyeing me cautiously, came closer to Kagome. She extended her hand, finding the necklace almost immediately. I should have thought so, since she was connected to Kagome. I took the dead girl's hand gingerly with mine to remove it from Kagome's body. If I applied more pressure, I feared, it may fall off, or dissolve into dust, or do something equally appalling. She looked at me as if she could read my thoughts and there was almost a hint of hurt in the depths of her dark eyes. She cradled the arm I had touched to her bosom and turned to Inuyasha.

"Kagome has received a gift she should not have accepted," she said with her hollow voice.

"What?" My half brother has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer.

"There is a necklace around her neck that keeps calling her to the one who put it on her," Kikyo said calmly. There was no love lost between the two girls, I noticed, now even less than before.

Inuyasha came closer and sat next to me, almost touching me. He brought his face close to mine, almost as Kagome had done before, but other than her, he was not a pleasant sight to my eyes.

"I take it you have given her the necklace," he said with a surprisingly calm voice.

"So it is."

"Now, without further ado and your usual riddle speech, would you, o great Lord of the Western Lands, tell me why you have done this to Kagome?"

"Now, I am thrilled that you seem to have learned how to build coherent sentences with more than three words..."

"Don't you try to distract me!"

There he had me. I do not believe in lying. It just does not pay off. On the other hand, I did not want to admit my intentions. From a completely different angle, he had a right to know what I wanted with this girl who was his friend. But, he was not entitled to question my actions. While I still was debating with myself, the old miko said:

"If this is a chain made by a demon smith, then indeed you must take our Kagome with you." She had a sip of tea. I could see how her calm annoyed Inuyasha.

"No way he is taking her with him!" he exclaimed. "She has nothing to do with him, anyway."

"Lord Sesshoumaru," the old miko went on. "You will want to take her with you, I guess. But before you leave, please think about taking the necklace off. She is needed here."

"She herself told me that my brother has another shard detector to help him."

"Kagome has a child to care for."

"Cannot his father take care of the child?" My eyes went straight to my half brother, who blushed.

"Little Shippo was adopted by Kagome." I remembered now. There was a little red fox demon following the young girl around, calling her 'Mum, Inuyasha hit me on the head, Mum'. Thinking about it, this was a convenient reason for taking Kagome away and not telling anyone what exactly I intended to do with her. She could, if she wanted, as well take care of Rin. This way I would avoid lying and at the same time not let anyone in on my plans. From time to time, even I had to halt for a moment in order to admire my own brilliance.

"He can come with us, if he wishes so," I said. "He can study with Rin. Kagome will be looking after her."

"So you are offering her a respectable post in your household?" the old woman inquired.

For a moment I was wondering what she was talking about, then I understood what she was implying.

"All posts in my house are honourable, old woman." At this, she backed away from me, feeling the temperature in the room sink by a couple degrees.

"I wanted to ask..." she went on, nevertheless.

"You do not need to fear for the virtue of this girl, if this is what you mean."

She bowed her head. "Forgive me, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"You're all talking about Kagome leaving, but you're forgetting something."

"And that would be?" My half brother was an annoying little runt. I should have drowned him in a barrel a long time ago. Now that I remember, I had tried to... several times, in fact.

"That would be, you jerk, that I will not let you take Kagome away from m-, err... I mean, us." His hand went to his sword, yet again.

This was the moment that Kagome chose to open her eyes and sleepily say: "Sit," which sent my half brother flying through the tatami mats on the floor.

"What was that for, you stupid..." he yelled.

"I told you not to fight in the village," she grumbled sleepily. "Could hurt someone. Could damage property." Her breathing slowed down again.

"You just damaged the b-bloody floor!"

But she was gone again, sleeping. Inuyasha managed to get up from the wreckage that was the floor and cast an angry look at Kagome.

"You know what, Sesshoumaru?" He lifted his hands to his hair as if to adjust it, and then let them fall down again without completing the task. "Take her and the annoying brat and be gone in the morning. Let her see if I care!"

Always count on Kagome to enrage my brother and always count on Inuyasha to act stupidly when he is angry. They all played into my hands. Inuyasha's dead girl looked at Kagome indifferently, while Kaede shook her head.

"Well, if that is so," she said, "Inuyasha, you will have to go to see her mother and explain this... mess to her."

"The heck I will!" He turned his head away like a child having a tantrum.

"Sit," murmured Kagome in her sleep.

Soon after, my brother took off in the rain.

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	3. Bird in the Cage

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun. As for the Kagome, Kagome-song, I understand it is a children's game and a rhyme that goes with it. It also doesn't belong to me.

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**Chapter III – Bird In The Cage**

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As morning came, the rain stopped. Slowly, night retreated to give room to the light of dawn. In the hut, Kagome slept still. Kaede, the old miko, had gone to sleep some time ago. Her sister had wandered off into the forest, to do what, I did not know. So for some time I was alone with sleeping Kagome and my thoughts for company, waiting for my half brother to return.

Is it possible to accumulate sorrow? Suffer so long until nothing else mattered? And then pass on suffering to everybody in one's path?

The rain had cleansed the air, and I took a deep breath. When I was small and my family only consisted of my mother and I, and sometimes my father, who often was busy, my mother would send me off into the still wet garden after rain, simply to breathe fresh air. "Go love," she would say "The world is clean now. You will enjoy it." And I did.

The voice of my mother still sounds in my ears after rain. Sometimes, when I look into a mirror, I see her in my features.

But when I mentioned suffering, I did not mean my mother or myself. I meant my half brother.

Nothing good, so it seems, has ever happened to Inuyasha. Since his birth, he was followed by misery. First our father died, and then his human mother left Earth as well. Since we never did get along well, he left the Western Lands – and discovered that outside the walls of my castle neither demons nor humans liked half breeds. I had given him a hint during our time together, but he had probably thought that it was only me taunting him. When he discovered that he would never be free to be himself, he ran wild.

During this time, he was after the Shikon no Tama, hoping it would grant him one wish – make him a full demon. But there was she, standing between him and his wishes. I have seen Kikyo while she was still alive. A beautiful, quiet human, quite unlike Kagome, who cannot hold still for a second. The way she looked then, Kagome will look when she is a little older.

Kikyo made my half brother halt for a while. In fact, although he would never admit it now, I believe that he considered abandoning his demon heritage for her. For a very short period of time, he had the privilege to feel peace and love. So, when misery finally caught up with him, it struck him all the harder.

And the rest? Betrayal, death of her, fifty years of being stuck to a tree, in nightmarish dreams, all alone. I wonder what he was dreaming of?

When Kagome came along, there was nothing left of Inuyasha's softness. He was there to bring misery upon the world, the world being represented by Higurashi Kagome. She gave him attention, support, friendship and love, but he was not able to return it. I could see that he cared for her. Deep down, I guess he wanted to be cared for also, but after so many times he had been abandoned by the ones who should have cared for him, after being rejected so often, he did not dare... truly, a sad story.

Even sadder, perhaps, since I, his own half brother, have been the first one in the line of many to come who have rejected Inuyasha.

Am I sad? Do I feel guilty? I still do not like him, or the likes of him. Even if I said that I was sorry and that I pitied him, he would not believe me. He would hate me more than he does already. I did not come to apologise.

I came to take something from him that was more worth than the Shikon no Tama. Too bad he was too blind to realise that before it was too late to claim it back.

'Kagome, Kagome, bird in the cage...'

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Kagome had been a source of my displeasure for quite a while.

When I noticed her, I could not stop looking her way. She was an interesting girl.

She was talkative. She was always backing up my half brother, regardless of how wrong he was to deny me our father's sword, always loyally standing by his side. She did not hold me in high regard until she learned of Rin. She was indecently clad. Annoying. On the wrong side in every conflict. Human.

One day, she made Rin's acquaintance. From that day on – I do not know exactly why – she changed her attitude towards me. At least I rose from my status that was probably lower than that of a worm to the status of a real person.

I think Kagome does not see a great difference between demons and humans. To her, we are all just 'people'. Otherwise, she would not waste her time with Inuyasha, I guess. She would not have adopted a demon child. But with Rin in tow, I apparently became more real to her, not just someone who threatened to kill her once in a while. I myself think that Rin is a special girl. I will freely admit that I am somewhat attached to her and would be most annoyed if something happened to her. But Kagome, then, she adores Rin.

The first conversation that took place between us without weapons and threats was about Rin.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," Kagome said and bowed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I am sorry for trespassing on your property, my lord," she said. "I think I wandered off without noticing..." She looked uncomfortable. "I hope you will not hold it against me."

"I will not waste my time on killing you, if that is what you mean," I said.

She sighed. "If you please, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"Yes?"

"About Rin..."

"What about the girl?"

"I was thinking... since you are always wandering, Rin may not have many friends..."

"So?" I guess my tone of voice was less than encouraging.

"So I thought," she pulled a rag doll from behind her back "I thought Rin may like to have this. I made it myself."

Rin loved the doll. It was dressed all in white, with white hair and yellow eyes and stripes in its face. Kagome had not even forgotten the half moon. Rin named the doll 'Fluffy' and I am still pretending I do not know why she did it.

I have been interested in Kagome for quite a while. She has been interested in me, too. We talked to each other on a few occasions. Sometimes, I would bring Rin over to play with the fox boy and Kagome and her friends. Sometimes I would meet her at the well and exchange a few words with her. She would look at me, always surprised to see me, half- covered by shadows of trees. Sometimes she would tell me things she could or would not say to my half brother, things concerning her family or school or how she feared that, when the Shikon no Tama was complete, she would not be able to travel through the well anymore. Sometimes she would just look at me and say nothing, and we would sit together in silence for a short while.

There was this moment when she fell out of love with my half brother. There was a moment when she graduated from school and told my brother that she could spend more time with him and he reacted less than sensitive. There was the moment when she decided to give up a huge part of her large soul to the dying shell of Inuyasha's former lover. There was the moment where she was nearly ready to change sides, the moment in which I was able to lure her into shadow, closer to me.

Then she was close enough for me to put a chain on her skin, close enough for me to come near her and close the lock, using one hand and my teeth, my lips barely touching her flushed, warm, bare human skin.

Kagome, Kagome, bird in the cage,  
When will you come out?  
In the evening of the dawn,  
The crane and turtle slipped.  
Who stands right behind you now?

It was me standing behind Kagome. I have decided that she was worthy. That, given time, care and education, she would make a person truly worthy of my attention. In a hundred years or so, she could fly free with all her talents developed to the fullest and I could... use her for my own ends.

Alas, she was human, and a hundred years was not a span of time given to her. In a case such as this, a demon has to do what a demon has to do.

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	4. Strength

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Sorry for the short chapter...

Thank you reviewers! Love you!

And thank you Raijin, my ultra-strict beta

And finally – you may find that Sesshoumaru is a bit of a jerk in this chapter. Sorry about that...

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**Chapter IV – Strength**

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I should have known that he would change his mind in the morning. When Inuyasha came back from Kagome's, her yellow bag upon his back, he was strongly against Kagome coming with me. To his dismay, Kagome had heard him last night when he had said that he wanted her gone by morning and she insisted that she must go. Her friends, especially the former monk, now husband to the demon exterminator, were upset about it, but she gathered the fox child up, asked if he wanted to go with her (he wanted) and kissed her friends goodbye.

Just before we left the village, she turned around once again and went to Kikyo purposefully. She took her aside and talked to her for a short while, before she hugged the clay form to her and let her head rest on the other's shoulder for a moment. Kikyo weakly returned Kagome's touch. Kagome never feared Kikyo's appendages may fall off and crumble to dust while she was touching her.

So I brought Kagome to my home. She did not resist me. I was pleased. She took her child to Rin and her tutor. Then we were alone, and Kagome turned her full attention to me.

I know that I am strong. I am the strongest demon in all of Japan. I understand that in Kagome's time there may be machines and weapons that could bring down even me – she told me about nuclear heads once. But I am the Lord of Western Lands and have nothing to fear. Unless I encounter a woman who can, as far as I know, purify demons quite effectively by shooting an arrow at them or even just by touching them. In situations like this one, I like to be cautious.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," she said politely. "Now that we are alone and I have co-operated with you..." She turned her head away as if to look at the wall furnishings "I don't know why I did it in the first place... anyway, would you mind telling me what this... thing is supposed to mean?" She tugged at the necklace somewhat impatiently.

I chose my words carefully.

"You know that I have been interested in you for a while"

"You have graced me with your attention, yes," she said.

"That is correct. I have decided that you are a person worthy of my company."

She rolled her eyes; I could see it although her bangs hid them from my view.

"I have decided to honour you." She turned her eyes to me.

"To honour me, my lord?"

"With this necklace..." I slipped one long nail under the warm metal and pulled Kagome closer to me. "You will suffer pain." Her breath caught.

"You will suffer terribly. In fact..." I stopped for the sake of drama. "You could die."

"What does it do?" she whispered. Her chest went up and down rapidly now.

"If you survive. If you are strong enough..."

"Yes?"

"It will give you long life. Power. Strength. Whatever you wish."

"What does it do, this necklace?"

"It was crafted to suit my wishes. I wished for something to bind the one who carries it to me and turn them into one of my kind."

I could see fear in her eyes. She was terrified. She did not feel pain – yet – but she was terrified.

"You never asked me if I wanted this, Sesshoumaru!"

Gone were the politeness and the nice little 'my lords' she had given me earlier.

"I thought we were friends – or something of sorts!"

I caught her arm when she moved to hit me.

"I also thought that we were friends," I said. "I thought that we were perhaps more than friends."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice was weak, her face close to my chest.

"I think you are worthy. You just need time to develop fully. Time to get the sort of training you need in order to... I decided to give you the time."

"What? What do you need me for?"

I hoped she would not purify me the very instant I said it.

"I need your assistance, Kagome"

"You want me to assist you in what?"

"I need your assistance in a project I was attempting to pursue for a while now."

"What?"

"Breeding, my dear Kagome. A task only to be accomplished with someone who will give strength and power to the bloodline."

She did not purify me, because when she tried, I removed myself from her reach, and the necklace pulled her ever so softly in my direction. She lost her balance and fell to her knees, where she remained.

"I don't want to be a demon," she said calmly. "If I'd wanted to be a demon, I would have asked for it."

"I need you to be a demon. I will not risk my line being tainted by human blood," I replied calmly. She did not take well to it.

"I don't want it!" Kagome tugged at the necklace with force. A thin red line appeared on her skin. "I don't want it!"

"You will need to rest." I tried to calm her, but to no avail. I should have known that Kagome would not be happy about my decision.

"I don't care for your little 'racial purity'-plan at all!" Now she looked at me and I noticed that her eyes were red around the edges. "I think it's disgusting! Go find someone else! Leave me be!"

"Are you saying that you are refusing the chance to gain an almost eternal life, the power and wealth I could give you in exchange for your strength in my children, just because you wish to remain human? How pathetic!"

"Aah! I have thought I was attracted to you, but now I realise I am not! I despise you! Let me go!"

Suddenly she fell face-forward to the floor, fists clenched in pain. The transformation had begun and it hurt her. I regretted this, but in order to gain higher power, she had to suffer. If she survived, she would be thankful, I was sure. I had faith in her to go through this unharmed. Only one in a generation of humans held enough strength to survive a change.

My own half brother, who was half way to being a demon, had tried it once, although with another device, not a necklace, and it had turned out that he was too weak to bear the pain of transformation. I thought that her pain was probably even bigger, since she was human, but I was sure that she could take it.

"It will take a month to change you. It will hurt, so prepare yourself. Try to keep your blood from purifying itself while it is changing. It would prove fatal."

"Stop lecturing me! Take off this… _thing_!"

"I will not. Everything will happen as I have planned."

"I refuse to even think of having children with you!"

"You are wearing my chain, pet," I said. "You will do as your master commands."

Kagome screamed. I picked her up from the floor with my one arm and laid her over my shoulder to take her to the room that was to be hers. Once there, I let her fall to the floor in front of a large mirror. She kneeled on the carpet, and I went on my knees next to her. My nails lifted up her chin to make her look at the mirror. Her skin was punctured when she refused to look at the mirror and I refused to let go. The blood tainted my fingers in thin streaks of red.

"Look," I said. "There are shadows on your skin. Your teeth are getting a little bit longer. Soon they will look like mine."

She reached up to her hair to touch it. The terrified look in her eyes remained when she turned to me.

"What do I have to do to make you realise that I don't want to be a demon? I want to live – with humans – go to college, marry, have children, get old and die a human? Nothing you could offer me can replace that, don't you see?"

For a moment, I faltered. She had a right to decide on her future herself. She was a friend of mine – or so. Should friends not be helpful? But I needed her for myself. Does a Lord of Western Lands show weakness in the face of anyone? No, he does not.

"It has been decided. The necklace will remain." I got on my feet. "Rest. I will send someone to show you the way to the dining room." Her hand was still in her hair. "And stop fiddling with your hair – it will remain as it is."

She gave me a stubborn look. She reached for a small vase that stood on a low table next to her and hurled it into the still surface of the mirror behind her. The mirror shattered into thousands of pieces that spread out all over the floor and showered her with silver. I left the room without a look back. Behind me, I think, Kagome cried.

* * *


	5. Eighteen Strokes

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Thank you very many to my Beta, Raijin!

**Warning**: This chapter is not funny! It contains no humour whatsoever! Sesshoumaru is being evil (again)!  
Thank you reviewers! I love you!

* * *

**Chapter V – Eighteen Strokes**

* * *

It was raining outside, in huge wet drops that exploded into a myriad of tiny droplets when they touched the windowsill. A dead bug glittered in thousand colours when a raindrop hit its armour and broke, sparkling in the light of Kagome's lamp. I wondered how long it would take the elements to wash away the tiny dead body.

As the fading daylight grew paler and finally dissolved into darkness, I kept on looking at the windowsill. My prisoner was lying on her bed behind my back, sleeping. I stayed with her, keeping watch.

Even in her sleep, I saw the changes that were taking place in her body. It takes twenty-eight days, the time that the moon needs to go from full to full, to undo the work of the Gods and change a priestess to one of my kind. To dissolve humanity. I touched the new pointy nail on her thumb slightly. The markings on her face were very pale, because unlike me, she was not of royal blood. There would never be a crescent moon on her forehead. Her jaw was slightly bigger now in order to accommodate the teeth that were growing longer. Sometimes her fox demon son would play with her new pointy ears and tease her about them.

When she was awake, she would pace around, painfully slow, clothed in precious many-layered kimonos, while her maids would follow her around to catch her if she were to fall. Even in her movements that now were slowed down due to the pains of her change, I could see the beast she was becoming, but in the looks she was giving me, I saw that she still was fighting me on the inside. Her pupils were round and black, and from inside her, the thing that I wanted to erase from her soul - the humanity - glared mockingly at me. The day when her pupils turned into slits, I would have won. Only a few more days and she would have no other choice than to stay with me.

I have paid dearly for the necklace that held Kagome captive. There are many different ways to win power over a demon, and gaining a part of his body is one of the best. One of my fangs was in the hands of the demon smith who had made Kagome's necklace. A tooth grows back, but the fact stayed that a sword that could slay me was in the making right now. I was hoping I could get hold of it somehow, but I was also aware that there was a chance of someone else getting hold of the sword. I had paid a great price for the possession of Kagome. I had put myself in a dangerous position. I saw no reason to tell her all this. Still, I found it reassuring to know that Naraku, my old enemy, was dead, although not by my hand, but by that of my half brother.

* * *

She moved in her sleep and tossed the blanket aside. She was lying on her stomach; the top of her sleeping garment was torn open in the middle of her back, showing the red mark on her skin just at the small of her back. It was very small, and one had to go closer to see what the mark was - but I knew, because I had made it.

It had started a few days after I had taken her to my home. She was kneeling on her bed, head buried in the covers, biting the fabric with her teeth. I could hear it rip between her fangs. She was shivering.

"I could help you," I said. "I could ease your pain for a while." 

At first I thought she would not answer, but then she turned her red-rimmed eyes to me, to see me sitting close by.

"How?" she asked faintly.

I stretched out my hand and showed my nails that were dripping with poison before I wiped it off on my kimono. The fine silk sizzled and burned away, leaving some skin to the sight. She drew away from me.

"My poison could paralyse you for a while. It wears off after one or two hours, but if I put it in you when the pain is strongest, you could at least get some sleep. You would feel nothing."

She seemed to think about it.

"It comes with a price, of course," I added.

She looked at me questioningly.

I hesitated for a brief moment; then I went on:

"It will leave a scar on your skin. Your healing abilities are improving due to the metamorphosis, but my poison would still leave a trace. And I wish to leave a special mark on you…"

"What mark? How many times do you have to… puncture my skin to apply the poison?" 

"Just once." I studied her face. "But I guess we will have to repeat it several times, since the pain comes in waves, and the worst time seems to be two hours before midnight." 

"What…" She stopped, drew breath and concentrated on driving away the pain. "What would that mark be?" 

"Today is the tenth day of your change. You have eighteen days left. I will surely find something that requires eighteen strokes to write."

She sighed and bit her bottom lip until a thin stream of blood started to run down her chin. I took her left hand and forced her to wipe it off with her sleeve. She did not resist. Where the blood had been, a red burn streak stayed. The blood inside her that still resisted the change tried to purify her demon flesh - but it was too weak. Slowly, the burn faded away.

"What will you write?" She said, with hands folded in her lap. "And where will-" A gasp interrupted her, her head went up and she sat with her mouth open, opening and closing her fists.

I said nothing, just waited until the fit was over.

"Do it." She said. "I will allow it. I don't care what you do, just stop this."

"Turn around," I ordered. She turned her back to me and waited. I loosened the obi that was holding her dress together and carefully sliced a small opening in the back of it. The silk fell open and revealed smooth, unmarred skin that was turning more and more pale every moonlit night. I extended my index finger with the deadly poisoned claw and made a tiny cut a few inches above the place where her human spinal column ended. No tail yet. When she lost feeling in her body I held her upright, then laid her down on her bed and got on my feet.

"I hate you," she said. "I will find a way to go back to being what I am and once the shards are all found, I will leave you and your rotten time for good."

I put a finger on her lips, which soon were also taken over by the poison's working. "I thought you liked me," I said. "I thought you would not object too much to being taken by me. I guess I was wrong, then." For a moment I was just watching her, her shining face, eyes closed. "I still think that you do not hate me." 

She scowled, and her eyes filled with tears, but then the poison overwhelmed her and I called her maids in to change her clothes and lay her to sleep.

* * *

Kagome now had fourteen strokes on her back. Tomorrow, the second of three characters I intended to write on her skin would be completed. She was not allowed to look at her back in a mirror, no matter how often she asked. To my relief, she did not show her new scar to Shippo and Rin, probably to shield them from what she thought was my savage and cruel nature. Four more days and she would be a demon. I closed my eyes for a heartbeat, and then continued to listen to the rain.

I did not regret doing this. Kagome was shining, strong, beautiful. Her only fault was her humanity. After almost two centuries of living this life, I have never encountered anyone who would suit my purposes better. If only she were by my side, I felt, I could rule the world. Not that I intended to do so, but when Kagome was ready, transformed and educated to suit my wishes, there was nothing in this world to stop me.

Behind me, Kagome stirred. The poison was wearing off. She opened her eyes. Quietly, she moved, trying out if her limbs were working. She always did it this way. When she was sure everything was in order, she relished the numb feeling in her body. The pain had not yet set in. Her eyes fell on me. I did not turn around, but I could feel her gaze boring through my back. She was angry with me; I could feel her shivering breath on my ear when she came closer. Thin, fragile fingers with long sharp claws enclosed my throat. She leaned her tired body on my back heavily.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't slit your throat with my shiny new nails," she said, her voice quiet and raspy. She still had to get used to speaking with bigger jaw and teeth.

"You cannot harm me. The necklace is holding you back," I said. "And if you try to purify me, the purification will go against you." Quickly, I turned to her, removed her hands from my throat. Now it was my hand on her pulse.

"And if you use your powers, they will leave your body, and never return to you. Your soul itself will detach from your body and go to the _other one_ - is it what you want? I do not care…" I let her throat go and took hold of her necklace to draw her closer to me. My mouth almost on her ear, I said, quietly: "It will just serve my purpose. Do you want that?"

Suddenly, she fell against me. For the first time in twenty-four days we were this close, no, for the first time ever. I could hear her heartbeat increase, but her voice was firm.

"I thought you liked me. How can you do this to me?"

"You will understand in time," I said and brushed the dark veil of hair from her face.

She sighed and backed away. A stray breeze disturbed the faint light of the candle, which flickered, and threw restless shadows on Kagome's face.

"I think you just want me for what I could be," she said. "I don't know if you realise how cruel you are being." She reached for the necklace and played with it absentmindedly. "You are doing the same thing as Inuyasha. _He_ always thought I should be like Kikyo. _You_ think I should be a demon so I won't spoil your bloodline. Whenever I told either of you to go and get the real thing, not me, the _replacement_-" Here her voice grew thinner. "You will persist on keeping me." She let go of the necklace. "It hurts. I have had this with your brother; I will not go through it again with you."

"You should feel honoured that I have chosen you."

She was angry now. "Of course I am honoured! Of course!" She grabbed the bedcovers and ripped them to shreds without noticing. "I wanted nothing more than to be dragged away by an evil demon and turned into one myself. Of course!" Tears started running down her face again; she wiped them away.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

"You have been cruel," I said. "You have hurt people. You have killed." She did not move. "You have killed demons. Perhaps some of them have had families? You have destroyed the jewel and you have brought great evil over all of us. This is what you have done." Even while saying it, I was not sure if it was wise to do so. Still, I was mildly angered by her constant complaints.

"You have been cruel to the one who loves you…" I continued.

"No!" she shouted. "It was too late! It was too late for that." She came closer to me again, as if her arguments would have more strength when she shouted them to my face.

"I have given him time, and patience, I have given him everything. I have given him Kikyo…" 

"And that was cruel, wasn't it?"  
"No." 

"Yes, because you gave her your soul, and he noticed that he did not love her anymore after all… you are a cruel woman, my pet."

"I thought it would make him happy to have her close…" Kagome's face was showing her anguish clearly. 

"You were hoping it would not. You were hoping that the same thing that had happened to you would happen to him. _Your_ interest was turning somewhere else at that time, was it not?" 

She covered her face with her hands. "No!"

"Yes." I brushed her hands aside; that made her look at me.

"If you are asking yourself what you have done to deserve what I am doing to you, then think about this."

"It is not your place to judge me."

"Oh, but it is. You are using me as a replacement for my half brother. You have taken my necklace out of your own free will. You have left your friends to come with me. And with me, you will stay."

"I am not using you as a replacement for your brother." Her voice was fierce, although quiet. "I am not using you as a replacement. When… when I… I did not like you because of him. I started liking you for yourself… but that is over now."

Everything had been said. My eyes closed and I breathed in the scent of her clothes and her hair, the tears on her face and the tea she had had before. It was hours past midnight. I turned away from her to face the window again. The bug was gone, either dissolved by the raindrops or eaten by some bird. Perhaps the rain had just washed its body away from the windowsill. Behind me, Kagome turned away, but then changed her mind and came closer. I could feel her arms sneak around my waist from behind, while she leaned her head on my back.

"Why does it have to be this way?" she murmured. "Why does it have to be complicated with me?" The thin silk on my back warmed up under her breath.

"The Gods must love you." I said nothing more, unwilling to betray anything that she could use against me.

"Neither your brother, nor you," I heard her whisper, "have loved me enough to let me be who I am."

I did not move, but I touched her hand, slightly. If I loved Kagome, I should let her go. I shook my head. She was here to stay.

* * *


	6. Scratches

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Raijin beta-ed this really fast. (It's only 5 winword pages)  
Many thanks for your reviews! Keep it up! I'm a reviewholic!

* * *

**Chapter VI – Scratches**

* * *

Early in the morning of the next day, I was told that someone had requested to see Kagome and me. She was summoned to Kagome's morning room, where she would have a splendid view of the green cherry trees in the garden below.

The servant bowed and attempted to kneel down and open the door for me, but I stopped him with a slight motion of my hand. I heard shuffling and breathing, until Kagome had finally settled at the low table with the help of her maids. The door was shoved aside, and Kagome's servants left the room, leaving tea cups and small candy as refreshment for Kagome and her visitor. Only when they were out of the door, I entered.

The demon exterminator's looks had changed only slightly since Naraku's death, although the loss of her brother had drawn tiny lines of sorrow on her face that even her pregnancy could not smooth out completely. 

She sat to Kagome's left. When I entered, their eyes followed me while I sat down across from Kagome, Sango to my right. I noticed that her rounded belly was only a hint under the kimono she had been made to wear by my servants, as if not to insult my eyes in her demon hunting attire.

She had asked to see Kagome and me, as if she had known that she would not be allowed to see Kagome alone. Now she was looking at her fingers while Kagome was tending to her duties as the lady of the house and pouring tea for everyone, her hands slightly shaking. She spilled a few drops on the lacquered surface of the table and with an uneasy side glance at me quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of her dress. I said nothing.

She turned to Sango uncomfortably.

"I dare not touch you," she said with her raspy quiet voice. "If I hug you, I might squeeze you to death." She laughed and made a small, clumsy move with her hands. "Yesterday, I almost… Thank goodness that Shippo is such a sturdy little thing…"

"Then be careful, Kagome," the demon huntress said, and threw herself at Kagome, who caught her in her arms and carefully held her. Her eyes went to me as if to see what I thought about this display of affection. Her pupils were still perfectly human. She was stroking Sango's back and shaking shoulders and breathing in her scent of lesser demon and herbs. Sango had reached my palace riding on her cat's back.

After a while, Kagome steadied Sango in an upright sitting position and put a hand on her thigh. A heavy burden seemed to weigh the young woman down. She was playing with her cup and her look went nervously between Kagome and me. My patience grew thinner in the prolonged silence that not even the ever chatty Kagome would break to ease the tension lying in the air.

Finally, the demon exterminator spoke, laying a hand on her belly.

"Two nights ago," she said. "I felt my child move in my body for the first time. This woke me up."

Kagome's breath caught, her hand went to her necklace.

"I turned to my husband to tell him this and saw him struggling to move away from me. He was holding his right hand on his chest, tying to find his beads and a piece of cloth…"

She was silent, then went on:

"When he finally found everything, he tore his hand from his chest and I could see a hole in his clothes and his flesh, bleeding freely all over our bed. And this sucking, soaring sound of wind…" Kagome moved forward to touch Sango, and somehow ended up holding her in her arms again, not caring how tight her hold was. Sango's voice faded, and then came back as strong as before:

"He fastened the cloth and the prayer beads over his palm to hold it tight - and then Miroku fell down, face forward, and did not wake since." 

Kagome's lids fluttered, she was breathing fast, and producing small, soothing animal sounds.

"You must come back with me, Kagome," Sango spoke, hands digging into Kagome's sleeves. "I can feel the void in me, tearing away at my child's life. He has inherited Miroku's curse. The void is back." She paused. "And if the void is back, then somehow, _he_ is back also."

By now, the demon exterminator was sobbing with her mouth open against Kagome's shoulder. Kagome leaned her head against Sango's.

I stood up and turned to the door to leave without even as much as a glance at Kagome and Sango. Kagome was next to me in a second.

"We need to talk about this, my lord," she said.

"No," I said.

"Please, you must…"

She followed me when I left the room and closed the door. The servant had left his post, and we were alone in the corridor. She tried to push me into a corner. Had I not been so intent on leaving her company, I would have found it amusing. 

"Sesshoumaru."

"You are not going anywhere. Even if he is back again, it does not concern you any longer."

"But…"

"You cannot do anything to help them. You cannot use your powers to heal or purify. You are weak and in pain." I tried to push her aside, but with her new demon strength, she persisted, and I would have had to use much more force to remove her than I wished to use on her.

"I must!" she said. "I need to see if I can do anything to help! You said yourself that it was my fault that the jewel had been broken. Let me go!"

"There is nothing you can say or do to make me change my mind right now." I said, taking her left hand and turning her away from me. "Go to your little friend and console her. Better yet, go to your room and rest for a while. You look tired."

"Don't try to…" 

"Kagome, I need to think. _He_ is not only your enemy. Leave me be for now. But remember this: You cannot leave my side, and I will not - I will _not_ let anything happen to you." 

She shook off my hand. "Do not try to decide over my head yet again. I will not let you rule my life. You are not my master."

I pushed her face-forward against the wall. She stiffened under the pressure of my body. "I am not your master? Am I not, indeed?" Suddenly, for no reason, I had the feeling that she was dying away in my hands, not knowing it, and that I could do nothing to prevent her being torn away from my grip - and from this world. If the cursed half-breed Naraku was back, then… 

Kagome struggled under my grip, growled when I tore away the back of her dress, and cried out when I carved the remaining four strokes into her back, unwilling to wait any more nights. Even if she were to die, the judges in Hell should see who she belonged to. I leaned against her still struggling form with my whole weight, closed my eyes and inhaled her odd, part demon part human scent. With one last effort she managed to shake me off and went for my throat with her teeth. I dodged her attack and leaned against the opposite wall. For a moment that was shorter than a heartbeat, I could see her pupils contract to narrow slits and expand to their normal form again. She extended her clawed hand and drew a bloody mark along my jaw with her nail. I did not move nor flinch. Then she slid down to the floor, paralysed and unconscious from my poison. The door to her morning room slid aside, showing Sango's face with red-rimmed eyes. 

"I heard an odd noise, what…?" She ran to Kagome and knelt next to her. Noticing the signs on her back, she bent down to read them. "What have you done?" she asked.

I turned away, opened a door next to me and motioned the servants that were inside the room to take Kagome. Then I nodded to Sango to follow them.

"What have you done, I asked," she said, bravely.

"The Lord of the Western Lands will not answer any impertinent questions while in his own home, human," I said with practised arrogance. "Be with her when she wakes," I ordered. "I need to think. If you do not wish to get lost here, you should follow Kagome's servants. I will tell you what I have decided later. Go now."

She looked at me, as if contemplating if she could take me out, but decided wisely that she stood no chance against me, and followed.

I turned in the opposite direction and walked to my study, holding my hand over the fast healing cut on my face. When I opened the door, the quiet, dark room welcomed me with silence. Suddenly I felt I the need for fresh air, and left the house through the window.

The garden embraced me with its green, clean scent of moist earth after the rain, and heavy drops of the night's rain glittering in the midday sun. I walked away, further away from Kagome than I had been in almost four weeks. Since the necklace forced her to stay close to me, I had tried to make it easy on her by staying at her side at most times.

I came to a small pond that was shielded from the rest of the garden by a hedge. For a while, I just sat down on the grass and looked silently at the white and red fish in the water that were playing between long stems of lotus flowers. I bathed my hand in the water and made my sleeve wet. Somewhere behind the hedge, I heard Shippo and Rin. The little fox demon was breathing in a slow, steady rhythm, sleeping. The girl was combing his bushy tail and singing under her breath: _Kagome, Kagome, bird in the cage_… The voice of Rin's tutor, asking a question; Rin answered, then continued to sing.

My eyes almost fell close. In the buzz of insects in the grass, busy again after the sun had warmed the moist grass, my head cleared slowly.

I have been careless. I have been eager to have things done my way, and I became careless. The price that I have paid for Kagome's necklace had been high then, but now that _he_, somehow, was back again, it had become even higher. I had no doubt that shortly, a weapon made from my fang would be in his hands and that he would wield it to destroy not only my half brother and his friends, but also to destroy me, the Lord of Western Lands.

While Naraku was alive, I generally approved of the idea of gathering the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls and purifying them, before the cursed thing could become a weapon in his hands. After his death, the jewel shards still missing were the only thing that kept Kagome on this side of the well. If she completed the Jewel, once done with her quest, not even I could keep her here, I felt, although I knew she felt more than friendship towards me.

I remembered how eagerly I had followed through with the plan of turning Kagome into a demon. There was a feeling of urgency in the back of my head that would not let go until I had gone to the demon smith and handed over my fang. Now I wondered if this feeling had been my own… Or had Naraku found a way to manipulate my feelings and thoughts?

Pictures flashed in rapid succession through my mind; the ancient tome with a bookmark in the right place to show me how to turn human to demon as I was leafing idly through it; I had thought the bookmark had been Inuyasha's. The black eyes of the demon smith glinting with greed when he received my fang in payment and how lightly I had given it away, without a second thought. The blue sky torn with red flames that burned Naraku when Inuyasha's sword ripped through him, Kagura and Kanna retreating into the woods... Sango's brother falling down like a puppet that had been cut off its threads, his body expelling the shards violently…

Kagome had found and purified the large chunk of the Jewel that had been in Naraku's possession, and all the small shards she could find. While busying herself, she desperately tried not to look at her friend who was holding her brother's fallen body. The demon exterminator's face was pale, her eyes broken. No-one dared touch her until the monk uncovered the now flawless palm under the cloth and knelt next to her, cupping her cheek, for once not trying to feel her up. She leaned on him and started to cry.

I only came in time to see Naraku burn, not before. Still, I had been so certain that he was finally dead, perhaps because I was convinced that Tetsusaiga would be the sword to destroy him in the end. My half brother stood there, stunned, sword in hand and looking at nothing in particular. Kagome finally spotted me; I nodded ever so slightly in her direction. She did not need me now. I left the clearing, a plan slowly forming in my head. A month after that, I gave my fang away.

I spent the rest of the day in my garden, thinking and planning. Kagome slept longer than usual because of the poison. The servants tended to her friend and the children. As the sun slowly crept towards the western horizon, my doubts stilled somewhat. As the day comes to its end in the West, so will Naraku come to his end by the hand of the Lord of the Western Lands, I thought.

As if summoned by my thoughts, a warm breeze, foul to my nose, reached me, called to me. Slowly I walked towards the tiny pavilion that was in another secluded area of my garden, close to the outer wall. I touched the carved white wood and looked inside.

The last rays of the setting sun made his white pelt blush. His face was uncovered, beautiful, his eyes dark because he kept them in the shade.

"So we meet again, Lord of the Western Lands. I wished for so long to speak with you," he whispered.

I felt he was alone, none of his children nearby. Although, this could be just another of his schemes. I did not trust my senses anymore when it came to him. There was no use in trying to kill him now - the thing in front of me was just another puppet. I stepped inside.

"What do you want?" I asked. "I have nothing to say to you."

"But perhaps you would like to ask me some questions?" he offered, smiling slyly. "And I wished to see _her_."

"You will not come close to her," I said, feeling calm. "Naraku."

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	7. Fireflies

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Raijin beta-ed this chapter really very efficiently, and we'd like to thank her a lot. Thanks Raijin! Thanks readers, your reviews cheer me on!

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**Chapter VII - Fireflies**

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I stood in the narrow doorway of the tiny pavilion. The sun fell on Naraku's figure through the windows and the ornately carved white wood, giving my enemy a polish of pink and red. The pavilion was intended for intimate meetings, for lovers, with only two benches. When he beckoned to me, I took place on the bench opposite of his. I assume, from afar, we may have looked like good friends or lovers, but both of us knew that the other wished nothing but the death of the other.

In that moment, I think, he felt like a victorious cat that had caught a mouse to play with. I, on the other hand, felt nothing but cold contempt for him - but also for myself. I felt that I had allowed him to manipulate me to a certain degree, although I still did not know how he had accomplished it. He had faked his death in front of Inuyasha and his friends, but why? To make all of us feel secure and gain victory in the end?

The Lord of Western Lands was nobody's mouse.

"I also wished to see _her_," he said.

Oh yes. He must have felt as if she were his creation, not mine. Now he was back, and Kagome was weak, defenceless on her way from human to demon. Her holy powers were diminishing, and her demon powers had yet to show. If the Jewel of Four Souls were to fall into Naraku's hands, she would not be able to purify it, and he would not be stopped. The shards were still safe with her, but I knew, and he knew that I knew that he would soon attempt to take them away from her.

I saw a shard glittering between his long fingers. He smiled. "The last one," he said. "I was keeping it for old times' sake." Suddenly businesslike, he continued: "I believe you wanted to ask me some questions?"

I tucked my hand into the folds of my haori. "You are here to brag about your supposed victory over me," I said. "Although I am not quite clear about the purpose of doing so. It seems foolish."

Naraku sighed. "You never had any sense of humour, Lord Sesshoumaru. Just humour me. I wish to talk until _she_ senses the shard…"

I clenched my hidden fist under the soft fabric, intent on not letting him see my anger. My face stayed impassive. There was nothing that would have pleased me more than slicing Naraku to ribbons with my sword, but I also knew that Tokujin could not seriously hurt him. Not for the first time, I wished for Tetsusaiga in my hand.

"If you do not wish to ask me questions, I will ask you some," Naraku said.

I stayed quiet. He smiled again. Was it wise to let Kagome come near him? Then again, I did not think that he would have let me go and warn Kagome just like that. I decided to stay and teach the half-breed manners in time.

"So, you gave Kagome the necklace on the first night of the full moon, am I right?" He played with the shard. "So she should be … ready in, what? Two days?"

Naraku waited for an answer, but shrugged as he did not get any reaction from me, and went on:

"It was really rather funny to have that page in your book marked. You should check your staff for spies more carefully in the future… if there is a future, of course… I heard from Kikyo that Inuyasha had tried to transform before… your father paid the price for his - ring, was it? Of course, the poor dog could not bear it. Still, the fang was out, and… did you ever ask yourself where your useless sword came from?"

The half-breed's insult for Tenseiga, no matter how useless I myself thought it was, did nothing to change my sentiments towards him for the better. I decided to roast his flesh upon a fire, slowly. If I ever could get hold of the real Naraku, not only a puppet.

"So," he asked in a conversational tone, "how does it feel to know that your life is about to end?"

"You tell me," I said. "You must know."

He smiled and looked at the setting sun for a moment, his cheeks flushed by the red light. In a very short time, it would be dark. Perhaps he would attempt to end my life then?

"I always thought that you were a useful ally. Why did it not work out between you and me?"

I contemplated my empty sleeve. It would take me years and years to re-grow that arm. It was a painful remainder of my unfortunate alliance with Naraku - and of course, of Kagome's choice to give the Tetsusaiga to Inuyasha. Still, the Lord of the Western Lands is nobody's play toy, at least not for long. 

He spoke to me for several minutes, telling me how he had planned to take out the greatest threat to his plans, the one that was protected so well by Inuyasha, her friends and me. And how, almost as a side-effect, he had rendered me helpless against the sword that was being made from my fang. He did not tell me everything he had done and what he had planned for the future, of course, but I could tell this thought pleased him immensely.

Somewhere across the garden, Rin's nurse picked up the little fox, who stirred in his sleep, and bid Rin to come inside. I let out a faint breath of relief to have the children safely in the house, for now out of Naraku's reach.

When the sun was down, Naraku started to hum a sad tune. For a very odd moment, with his black hair and young face, he reminded me of Rin. He looked very human, playing with the eyeholes of his baboon mask in the darkness. To my night-seeing eyes, his face looked silvery, framed by night dark hair, his eyes like dark holes in his face. I lifted my head; the moon had come out. First one window, then another lit up brightly with candlelight.

At the wall, I could see outlines of my guards, who were not aware that the enemy was already inside the walls. Or did they know? If I lived to see tomorrow, I would want to know from them how Naraku had made it past the walls of my gardens. It was my duty to protect my lands and those who lived on them. If my guards were lacking, it was my duty to set them straight. If they were traitors, it was my duty to find out and make sure such things never occurred again.

Once, late at night, Kagome woke up from her poison-induced sleep and touched my back with her hand.

"Why are you sitting here with me every night?" she asked.

"It is my duty," I said.

"Do you always think of your duty first?" she wanted to know.

"Of course," I answered.

"Is it because you think you are fulfilling a duty that you have taken me from my friends? A duty to your lands, to have an heir?"

After a long pause, I said:

"Of course."

She removed her hand and said nothing more.

Naraku stirred and distracted me from my thoughts. I saw lights floating through the dark, approaching slowly. My servants decorated the trees and bushes around the pavilion with red and white lampions. A maid, trembling in fear of Naraku, brought a tiny table into the small space between us; another brought sake, cups and some food and left them for us. A faint ringing of tiny bells was heard. Then a flute set in, joined by a shamisen and finally, a voice, singing a sweet song my mother's sisters used to sing for her in this very garden.

From the dark, a red light emerged. In its warm shine, my retainer Jaken walked, ceremoniously holding his staff, followed by servants who were throwing jasmine blooms to the ground, to sweeten the air. After them, a lady followed slowly, her ladies in waiting attending to her. Her hair was set in an elaborate style, with jewels spread generously over it. The face was painted only enough to emphasise her beauty. Her gown was very heavy, holding her down while she walked. When she had finally reached us, her ladies put a soft cushion on the bench next to me and helped her sit down, fussing with the folds of her gown.

I admired her to no end, not only her beauty, but also her courage. Although I did not approve of her coming here, I had to admit that she looked like a worthy lady of the house, doing her lord and husband credit. I had always known she would be like this, once transformed. Just another few days… but now, we had to face the enemy together, and she obviously wanted to show Naraku that his plan had not worked out as well as he had thought, and that she was not a mere puppet in his - or my - hands.

As soon as Kagome was seated at my side, her dress ordered about her to her approval, one of her ladies handed her a fan, which she unfolded. Jaken and the ladies bowed, and retreated into the shades of the trees. Contemplating the delicate drawing of a caged bird on the fan, Kagome followed a line of gold with her finger, before she snapped the fan close and looked at Naraku with curiosity.

He acknowledged her with a nod of his head: "Kagome," he said.

She did the same. "What are you doing here, Naraku?"

"I wanted to congratulate you on your new… station in life, of course. 

Kagome frowned slightly. "What do you mean?" 

"Only two more nights, and you will not be able to interfere with my plans. You will be a member of a dying race, along with your half-dead beloved here, not able to purify the Jewel anymore…" he said earnestly. Kagome's expression changed a tiny bit; she wanted to tell him that it would be more than two nights, but the sudden tension in the leg that touched hers gave her a hint not so say anything. Naraku did not notice anything. Turning to me, he said: "Your life was over when your arm was cut off by your brother, because your beloved Kagome chose to give the sword to the weak pup. You just made her a demon to make her pay for all eternity." He shook his head and smiled. "What a pair the two of you are - so tragically mismatched. You asked why I am here? I wanted to see real tragedy with my own eyes."

Kagome's eyes froze over. She opened the fan and played with it.

"Whatever do you mean? Lord Sesshoumaru has made me a demon because he has fallen in love with me."

Naraku laughed his cruel laugh. "Love? He is all hurt pride and revenge, don't you see? You took his _arm_. Why do you think he was so interested in having power over you? I just had to give him a small nudge in the right direction and he flew to give away his life, just to have revenge."

"You seem so convinced that everything is as you believe, Naraku," Kagome said quietly. "I think my lord means well for me. I am thankful to him that he has taken me in, has given me a long life, and will make me his wife in time, and give me children to raise, when I am truly worthy of him…" She lifted her head to catch Naraku's eyes with hers. I saw his eyelashes flutter before he was his own composed self again. "If my lord is missing an arm, I can be all the left arm he will ever need," Kagome said. "If my lord wishes to have a new arm, I can give him an arm of his enemy instead…" Naraku was quiet for a while.

"You think he loves you?" he asked, intrigued.

"Will you give me the shard?" Kagome asked instead of an answer.

He thought about it. He probably knew that she would agonise over the fact that she probably would lose her soul if she tried to purify the jewel. The thought amused him for a while, but in the end he flicked the last shard into the air and caught it in his hand again.

"No," he said. "Not this time." He caught the hand that she had put out to catch the shard before he could with his other hand. My skin crawled at the sight of the pale thin fingers wrapped tightly around Kagome's wrist. Naraku tucked the shard safely away and held her hand with both of his. With a sincere look in her eyes, he admitted:

"You were the least satisfactory of my enemies, young lady, always protected by your watchdogs, always in the background. Still, you have cost me lots of time and energy. I congratulate you. But, my patience is over. Although you look so much like the one that Onigumo had craved for, I fear you must go. Both of you," he said with a look at me. He sighed and put on the baboon head. "The next time we meet, we shall not drink sake peacefully as we have done today." He stood up, bowed mockingly to Kagome, and left the pavilion to stand in the red light of a lampion. Kagome and I also came to our feet to watch him.

"I will come to take the shards when you are a full demon, two nights from now," he said. "Give my regards to the charming demon hunter. I am sure her child will be delightful." He chuckled. Kagome gave a furious sound and threw her fan at him. The next moment, our enemy was gone. In the tree behind where he had stood, the sharp ends of the fan had buried themselves in the bark. Kagome balled her fists and bit her lips. When I came closer, she turned to me, her blood burning red marks on her skin. With my one arm I drew her closer to me, and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Don't think only because I told him those things that they are true," she said. "You will not make me a demon."

"Of course," I said, holding her close.

"How could he say such things? Does he really think that you will let him humiliate you in battle? If you were able to touch Tetsusaiga, he would be dead a hundred times by now!"

"But I cannot touch that sword," I said. "I will have to kill him some other way." 

"Did he say the truth? Did you really risk your life to have me?" There was a hint of curiosity in her voice. I did not answer at first, content to keep her close. Then I said _Yes_ in a forbidding tone, not willing to answer any more questions she may ask. She complied, for a while.

"Then you are a fool," she said. "It was all in vain. I will never stay with you." 

I looked at the stars. The music and song had long faded away, now my servants started to remove the lampions under Jaken's supervision. One by one, the lights went out, for we needed none in the dark. The stars blinked at me indolently when the last light went out.

"You did well tonight, Kagome," I said. "Did you order the lights and the music?"

"Yes - but I still think that you are a fool, my lord."

"Be peaceful tonight," I ordered her in a mild voice. "Let me compliment you on your accomplishment. You did well tonight, like a great lady would have done. I expect you to do as well in the future."

"Sesshoumaru…" she set in, but I shushed her.

"No, be quiet. I want to stay here quietly for a while, and smell that you are here, and alive. Sometimes I think you are dying away, and I just need to confirm that you are not… I guess Naraku might have been right, at least in this respect. Or it is perhaps just me, who is a walking corpse, only thinking, foolishly, that I am alive."

"He will never be right!" Kagome said. "If there will be a corpse, then it will be him, not you or me. How dare he speak like that of Sango!"

"You can ask him when you see him again." 

"Are you joking, my lord?"

"No." 

"Why does he think that I will be completely changed in two nights? If it happens at all, it will be in four nights." 

"This also is something you will have to ask him when you see him again."

She was quiet then, but still furious at Naraku. I could feel it in the stiffness of her neck and shoulders while I held her to me. Perhaps I would die soon. Perhaps she would die. My thoughts went to the mark on her back. Even if she died - even if she succeeded in breaking my hold on her - even if the world came crushing down the next morning - even if she decided to go back to my half brother - whatever happened, my claim on her would never be broken. Whatever the future brought to this Lord of the Western Lands, I was content to accept my fate.

I felt her hands on my shoulders, playing with my hair.

"Your hair is very beautiful, my lord," she whispered. Kagome sighed when I did not answer. "The hour will be soon when my pain is the largest, my lord…" With hesitation, she freed herself from my grip to hold my hand instead and look at the claws. "I guess you have given me all the scars you intended to give me, so I will have to live through it tonight?"

Silently, we walked into the house and into Kagome's room, where Sango was sleeping. I signalled to Kagome to be quiet and led her to my room, where we stood, looking at each other in the moonlight that came through the window. When Kagome opened her mouth to say something, I put one finger on her bottom lip and slipped the nail on to the inner side of her mouth. My claw started dripping with poison, and then I made a small cut.

"So it will not leave scars," I said in explanation. I led her to my bed and made sure she was under the covers before she fell asleep. For a while, I simply looked at her, before I sat dawn to keep watch until she woke up, as was my duty.

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	8. Quiet Before the Storm

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Many thanks to my beta, Raijin!

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**Chapter VIII – Quiet Before the Storm**

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While Kagome was asleep, I sat at her bed at night. Outside, the crickets were singing their song of a rainy summer and damp grass, and the moon was rising unstoppably, getting bigger by the hour. There are three nights where the moon is full every lunar month, and the first was approaching fast, along with it the next visit of our enemy.

A few rooms away, the demon exterminator slept quietly next to her husband, who was breathing very faintly. I could smell his life fading away to the other side with every second, and so could Inuyasha, who slept a few rooms away from him. Kikyo, the dead priestess, did not sleep, but sat in her room and sung to herself under her breath, while her sister snored lightly not far away. Kikyo, she had told me, could not sleep, but tried to sing herself to sleep nevertheless.

All of Kagome's friends had taken refuge in my castle, as to be close by when Naraku came to take the shards and our lives. Needless to say that it was not my wish for them to join us here, but soon, Inuyasha turned up with Kikyo, saying that the dead priestess insisted on seeing Kagome because she kept having prophetic dreams about her. This woke Sango up, who demanded to know why Inuyasha was not at Miroku's side to protect him, and soon one word gave another and they were at knife's point with each other, so before Kagome, who was standing close by and trying to calm them down could even look up with pleading eyes, I gave order that the former monk and the old miko were to be brought to my home as fast as possible. This satisfied Sango, who immediately gave up her argument with Inuyasha, who, robbed of his opponent, turned on Kagome instead.

"I would like to have word with you, Lady Kagome," he said in a formal tone. Kagome looked at him in astonishment, and I also was wondering since when my half brother had turned to formality. Kagome nodded and with the briefest of glances at me, led the way to her rooms. I stayed still and looked at Inuyasha's red form before I quietly followed them. It was not worthy of Sesshoumaru to eavesdrop, of course, but in this case, I thought, I would make an exception.

In Kagome's bedroom that was connected to her morning room by a sliding door I found unexpected company. Before I could order everyone out, the demon exterminator shook her head and the old priestess stepped in front of me and bowed. Kikyo just sat on the floor and looked out of the window. I sat down without a word, not wanting to draw attention of the occupants of the other room to myself. It did not bother me if Kagome found the others out, but I wanted to save myself the disgrace of being discovered listening to a private conversation that did not concern me… or at least that I was not intended to hear.

In the room, Kagome sat down and looked at Inuyasha.

"You look… expensive, my lady," he said.

"Is this all you have to say?" Kagome asked calmly. "Would you like to know how I am doing?"

"I can smell you," he said coolly. "You smell like a demon you are turning into. You smell of _him_. What else is there to say? I bet though, that he did not touch you yet, for fear of fathering another stain to our family's immaculate lineage." I expected to hear a slap, or Kagome have him kiss the floor, but the only things I was able to hear were rustling of Kagome's kimono and a soft touch of skin to skin.

"Don't cry," Kagome said. "I know you are hurt. I know exactly how it feels. I know…"

Another rustling of fabric, and I could imagine Kagome being drawn closer to Inuyasha in a tight hug, then choked sobbing, and Kagome's '_no, dear, don't_' to my half brother. Soon, it stopped, but he did not let her go. Instead he asked:

"How are you doing? How is he treating you? Are you alright?" Through a small cut in the paper door I could see that he was holding her and stroking her hair, causing the jewels that were attached to it to fall to the floor. The schedule for the day was: murder younger half brother, have the door repaired and the room cleaned. I meant to make him pay for touching my future wife so intimately. Would I ever be able to remove the taint of the half-breed from Kagome, though?

"I am fine," she said and stroked the chain around her neck with her thin clawed finger. The nail had been painted blood red by her maids. "Sesshoumaru is a very courteous demon." She thought about it. "To me," she added. With some effort she managed to free herself from his arms and sat next to him, her knees touching his when she sat opposite of Inuyasha.

"But he refuses to remove the chain?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes," Kagome said, "he does."

"Naraku is going to be here soon."

"We will meet him together," Kagome said. "Whatever happens, we will all be together."

"Do you love him?" Inuyasha asked. I wished I could simply murder the other occupants of the room who were suddenly listening very attentively to what Kagome would answer. Even the dead miko was listening, although she still pretended to look out of the window. In the next room, Kagome sighed.

"After… us…" Inuyasha had the decency to look at the floor, while Kagome continued. "I started talking to your brother. He is not a monster. He is a villain, but not a monster. He is not someone who will kill for sport, and he is not interested in world domination. He is just… Sesshoumaru and he will keep what he has and protect what is his." Kagome's voice faltered for a second as she swallowed down the pain that came from the transformation. Inuyasha took her hand and waited until she could talk again.

"Does it hurt a lot?" he asked. "I remember how awful it was when I tried it."

"I can live with it," Kagome said.

"Your pupils turned to slits and back to rounds just now," he said. "You're almost there. It was very quick; I don't think a human would notice." His tone was quiet, and I was not sure if he was talking about Kagome turning a demon or about his own, failed try at transformation.

"No!" Kagome said. "Not yet. I am far from being a demon yet!"

He just nodded. "About my brother?" he asked.

"I don't think you have the right to ask me that, Inuyasha." After a pause, Kagome finally said.

"Who else? You used to love me, remember?"

"I _used_ to. But you chose differently, didn't you?"

"It was you who showed her in my path and you demanded I chose her. You even gave her a part of yourself to make sure I would be drawn to her enough to leave you alone. Looks to me I was in the way of your ambition that had suddenly turned somewhat… higher?"

"How dare you?"

"How dare _you_?"

"You have never really wanted me, you always were neither here nor there, and I have had enough of that, can't you see?"

"It was you; from the moment on I opened my eyes at the tree, not the dead woman! You don't even see how it feels to be drawn to her because of your soul in her, but at the same time repelled by her scent of death and decay."

"Don't lie! You came to like me because of her, not the other way around."

He became quiet, and then said:

"So be it then. But just so you know - if you ever change your mind, I'll be waiting. Guess it's just fair, since you've waited for me, too."

"Inuyasha…" He let go off her and got on his feet.

"I guess we'll see each other at dinner?" he said. "I wonder if Sango is going to let me see Miroku?" With that, he left the room. Kagome waited a moment or two, and then left also. The women and I sat quietly, saying nothing, until Kikyo suddenly came back from whatever land her mind was wandering in.

"Inuyasha thinks I smell of decay? And he wants to wait for Kagome?"

Kaede tried to calm her down, but Kikyo shook off her sister's hand and opened the window.

"I will be leaving now," she said, turning to me. "Tell Kagome that she cannot have what is mine. If she is to live, I cannot stay any longer, and it would be impolite to abuse your hospitality by breaking the peace of this house. If she leaves here, we will meet again, in war." With that, she jumped to the garden below and left quickly, without once turning back. Sango shook her head and decided to go and sit at her husband's bed. The old woman looked at me wisely.

"Not all hope is lost, my lord," she said. "You should think about what you really wish for. Fear not the sword that has been made from your fang - you are a great warrior, you may live through it. Fear what comes after the battle. You have heard that she still thinks highly of you. Can you not reconsider? You still have time."

"She has been asking me the same question every single day since she came here, and my answer has stayed the same. No matter what happens, I want Kagome to be a demon. I will not change my mind, old woman. Now, I think we should leave this room."

Kaede bowed slightly and left me alone. I sat on Kagome's bed and repeated the conversation between her and Inuyasha in my mind. The two of them could never speak calmly to each other; it was a constant up and down of misunderstandings and consolation. Tomorrow evening, in the first night of the full moon, I would have to fight a great enemy, the greatest, even, with a pregnant demon slayer, an old woman, an immature half-demon and an almost-demon woman who was being crushed by pain as my allies.

My head began to swim, so I lay back on Kagome's bed. The covers smelled of her. I slept until Shippo and Rin came to the room, laughing and talking. They were startled to see me in a room I was not supposed to be in, but then they laid their heads next to mine, and decided to take their afternoon naps in Kagome's bed. Even Shippo, who was not as clueless as he looked, fell asleep beside me, but not before he had given me a stern look for being in his mother's bedroom.

The great Lord of the Western Lands asleep between two children must have been a ridiculous picture, but since nobody but Kagome ever saw it, it did not matter.

The children had left me some a while ago when Kagome came in. In my sleep, I felt her enter the room and look at me, but my mind would not let me wake. I was bathing in her scent, between her sheets, without dreams. She sighed and sat next to me, playing with my hair and stroking my forehead. When I finally opened my eyes, she was there, above me, with a half-smile on her face.

"So tell me, my lord, was your brother saying the truth?"

"Pardon me?" I said, still sleepy. "What do you mean?"

"I know you have heard everything we have said. I can feel you, have you forgotten?"

To my shame, I had to admit I had forgotten.

"So, was he right? Did you not touch me for fear of producing a half-human child?"

The thought had never occurred to me like this. I stayed still, thinking about it. Apparently it took me too long for Kagome's liking. She frowned. I still said nothing. She started to rise from the bed angrily, but I clamped my hand around her wrist.

"Would you believe me if I said it was not because you were human?"

"I still am human. And I wouldn't believe a word-"

I interrupted her in a cold voice that made her heart miss a beat: "Would you like me to prove to you otherwise, right now?"

Kagome struggled to free her wrist from my grip, but failed.

"Would you?" I insisted.

"No! No. Let me go."

I let go of her wrist, and she fell backwards and landed on her behind in a mess of blue, red and golden silk, jewels and black hair. I looked away from her and contemplated the mandala that was painted on the ceiling of Kagome's room, while she struggled to get up and regain some dignity.

"I do not know why I did not engage in such… activities with you," I said finally. "Perhaps my brother was right, perhaps he was not. I do not wish to discuss this any further right now."

"If you loved me, you would not have to think about it," Kagome said.

"I guess you are right," I said. She fell into silence. Soon I could hear her lie down next to me. She looked at the circling colours above our heads.

"It's not fair, I know," she said. "I know you only want me for my power. I was stupid to hope I could be more than a tool to any of you."

I said nothing to her, nothing to console her. Soon she fell asleep next to me, and this is where the night and the moon found us, while the crickets were singing their song.

"Sesshoumaru," she said between sleep and awareness, "You are cruel. Will you not let me go?"

"No," I whispered. "Your place is with me." I slipped a finger between her red lips. With my claw, I made a small cut on the inside of her mouth, where my poison could work, but the cut would not leave a scar.

She sighed and slept on. I stayed and played with her hair and counted the eyelashes that lay black on her skin, powdered in silver by the moonlight. She looked as transparent as a dream, one that, if held too tight, would dissolve in a myriad of tiny lights and vanish.

* * *


	9. Storm

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Thanks to Raijin for beta-ing! She's the best (the genes, you know). Tell her that she is supposed to allow me to keep Kazusa Takashima's Kuro as my desktop image, so I can keep staring at his… pistol… oops, I didn't say that, heh, heh…

It goes without saying that I'm sorry for the delay, but the muse of poetry just didn't want to smooch me after I'd gotten caught with the muse of laziness (and then she – the muse of laziness - sold the video on ebay, too!)

I had a huge problem with all the K-Names in this story: Kagome, Kikyo, Kaede, Kagura, Kanna… what's wrong with this manga, anyway? Bless you, Sango, good girl!

Thanks for reviewing everyone! It's so nice to know that someone's actually reading this. Yay! I hit 150 reviews nine reviews ago. Yay again!

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**Chapter IX - Storm**

* * *

The first night of the full moon came. The silver orb in the sky was not quite full, a hair's breadth missing to complete it. Kagome's servants helped her put on a light armour. When she was standing in the middle of the room with a bow in her hand, they left, bowing to us. I took her hand and removed the glove that was covered in jade scales for protection. She held her hand outstretched for me and let me put a ring on her ring finger.

"This is for my faithful ally," I said. "You will be my left hand, as you promised."

She nodded, and returned the glove on her hand, covering the ring. "We are all your faithful allies, my lord. Will you give a ring to Inuyasha, too?"

"We only have a temporary truce," I said. "And besides, I do not plan on marrying my half brother. You, on the other hand…" I left the sentence unfinished. Kagome blushed.

"If I die tonight…"

Kagome shook her head vehemently: "I will give you Naraku's arm for your own when we win, my lord," she said. "There is nothing more to say." The jewel shards around her neck pulsed with emotion, and while I thought that she had better leave them in the house, I said nothing to make her do so.

"Then let us go," I said, and she fell in step behind me.

* * *

Some time later, Kagome skipped to the left to go to Sango's room, and her place was taken by Inuyasha, who took the chance to hiss into my ear:

"And when this is over, _brother_, we will have a discussion," he said.

"What makes you think that we will live to see tomorrow?" I asked, feeling curiosity stir inside me.

"Kagome said so," he answered with unwavering faith.

"Is that so?" I said, and walked through the dark corridors of my home towards the gates leading to the gardens, the quiet sound of Inuyasha's bare feet following me.

* * *

He was sitting in the tiny pavilion in my garden, moonlight shining on his white fur cloak. Left and right of the entrance, the red-eyed wind demon and the pale child were keeping a silent watch. He was playing with the last pink jewel shard, trying to capture the moonlight in it. After a moment, I noticed that Kikyo was also sitting on the bench, taking exactly the same place Kagome had occupied a few nights ago. This time, there was no music and no red lights, only the moonlight and the insects in the grass.

Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango and Kaede were standing right behind me. I could smell death in the air – the guards on the walls were lying in their own blood, so they would not interfere.

"The beauty," Naraku said, "lies in the detail." He chuckled softly. "Not only have you not made Kagome stronger by making her a demon, but she will not be able to purify the jewel, or withstand the miasma, if I choose to release it. You have rendered your best ally helpless, and cannot return her to her previous state. Beauty, as I said, lies in the detail."

Naraku's smugness started to get on my nerves. I felt Inuyasha's mouth open to claim that Kagome was not yet completely transformed, and automatically, my hand flew up to silence him.

"I think there is no reason for us to discuss this anymore," I said, drawing the killing sword. The other remained in its sheath at my side. This night would not see the other sword used, I thought. I took a step forward, closely followed by Kagome, who also had a sword drawn, although I knew she knew not how to fight with it.

The crickets in the grass were gone, I noticed, even the wind had stopped its lazy stroll through the garden; the leaves of the trees were not fluttering anymore. Then a rush came, a wave of high air pressure, and Naraku's demons were over us.

They came from everywhere, hundreds, thousands of demons that all obeyed Naraku's strong pull, circling us, coming ever closer. Could it be that it was Naraku's goal to consume us, not kill us? Soon, we were encircled in a shadowy wall of demons coming ever closer. There were so many we could not see Naraku or his children. The demons soon started attacking us with everything they had; a wall of claws and teeth was closing in on us. After a few futile slashes with the sword, Kagome threw the blade away and returned to using her bow.

While Inuyasha started fending them off with his sword, Kaede blessed Kagome's arrows and her own so they would purify demons. Sango wielded her weapon as if she were not months behind her training on top of carrying a child.

In the middle of darkness that had come upon us, the circle of demons opened a little, leaving a gap for the pale little girl with the mirror coming closer, with nothingness in her eyes, unsmiling. She was floating close us, unhindered by demons, moving her lips, her empty gaze on my most important ally. Slowly, thread by thread, unseen by mortals, a white mist rose from Kagome's chest and floated towards the mirror in Kanna's hand. Sword in hand, I tried to get to her, but found myself face to face with the wind demon who had come in just behind Kanna, standing directly in front of me and blocking my way. I reached to slap her out of my way, but she charged into a serious attack, so I had no other choice than to fight her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kikyo standing behind Kanna and smiling while Kagome's soul was slowly drawn into the mirror.

Kagura was a blur before my eyes, clearly trying not to kill me, but to hurt me badly enough so I would not hinder Kanna in her task. Behind me, the others were trying to fight the demons, but their numbers were too high.

Now that half of Kagome's soul was with Kikyo, I feared that Kanna's mirror would be able to consume it. I tried to get between Kagome and the mirror again, but the wind witch was keeping me occupied, although after a while she was bleeding from several wounds and showing signs of weariness. Then, Kagome fell to her knees without a sound. Nobody could help; her friends were too busy fighting for their own lives.

When Kagome fell to her knees, Kagura saw an opening in my defence and attacked once again. Bravely, but stupidly, my half brother threw himself before me and she caught him between shoulder and throat, tearing a deep wound. He fell. I saw my last blood relative go down. His eyes turned, and his hand let go of his sword, then he hit the ground and did not move anymore.

Then, the moment was over and everything happened at once. The dead priestess saw Inuyasha fall and screamed in rage, and, with her bare hand, put a purifying arrow through Kagura's back, who dissolved into a breeze that caressed my cheeks before it vanished. A look at her, and I thought that she perhaps was thankful being finally allowed to die.

Meanwhile, Kaede had managed to sneak behind the pale little girl who was holding the mirror in her one hand and taking the small jar with the jewel shards from Kagome's neck. She caressed the pale necklace for the tiniest moment, then turned around to face Kaede – who put a hand trough the mirror's silvery surface – and with her last power purified it into dust only to fall down to the ground, clutching her hand that was now coated in liquid silver. Kanna opened her mouth, but only to gasp, and threw the jar to the pavilion, where, during this whole time, Naraku had been patiently waiting for her to bring him his preciouss.

The jar flew through the air, too fast that even I could stop it from reaching the pale hand that was stretched out from under the baboon cloak. I could feel him smile under the mask, while close by, Kanna exploded to fine dust, releasing the souls her mirror had stolen, and Sango fell to the ground next to Kagome, bleeding from a wound on her back. The demons drew ever closer, their screams ever louder in my ears, as they were closing in around us, then a sound stopped them, Naraku was laughing quietly, and as one, they drew away from us and back into his body, that was beginning to glow in an eerie light.

I saw the jewel in his hands liquefy and join together in an unholy orb of power. He smiled at it and then looked at me.

"Even if you were to obtain it from me somehow, my lord, she could not purify the jewel anymore," he said pleasantly. "But she cannot even move – her soul is lost."

I wanted to contradict him, but a look at Kagome taught me otherwise. She was lying on her front, her jade plated glove still clutching her bow, her face turned in my direction. But there was barely life in those eyes with demon pupils, and the white mist that was her soul wavered above her body that refused to admit the human soul into its demon flesh. I fell to my knees next to her empty shell and touched her hand, hoping to feel that somewhere deep, a tiny speck of Kagome was left inside.

I could say nothing. Even now, seeing the final result of my actions, I could not bring myself to regret wanting to turn her demon. I released her hand to caress her black hair. Behind me, Kikyo whimpered and took a step to reach Inuyasha's body, hesitated, then ran to him. Just before she could kneel at his side, she stopped dead. The mist above Kagome's body had found another home, so it seemed, and it rushed with might to join with Kikyo's welcoming clay body.

Kagome's heartbeat was slowing down by the second, while the white mist was rushing from her body to that of her rival. Kikyo had won, so it seemed, because she had her soul back and that of my half brother to join her on her journey to hell.

My eyes clung to Kikyo in eerie fascination, but still I did not understand it at first. When she held her hands before her terrified eyes, I was finally able to comprehend what was happening. Kikyo's original body may have held the amount of her soul, but the clay body was only a copy that could barely hold the half Kagome had granted her. The shell of dirt and bones was crumbling, unable to contain all of it. At first, she looked around her as if seeking help, someone to stop the soul from eating up her body, but in the end she succumbed to her fate with the dignity of a priestess. With a serene face, she moved to Inuyasha and fell down next to him, her arms around him and her head on his chest. Then, it was over in moments. She dissolved to fine dust, leaving nothing but a thin layer of holy earth on my brother's clothes, along with the garb of a miko.

Kagome's soul, free once more, and now complete, still wavered in the air, tried to enter her body over and over again, but failed. In the corner of my eye I could see small demons that were waiting for Kagome's body to give out in order to collect the soul to hell to be judged. I knew I could kill them and prevent them from doing their work, but to what end? Kagome could not rise again.

Naraku came closer, his power already going beyond the limits of his body. He was coated in an aura of power that never should have been his. Finally, he stood next to me, not unlike a friend, looking at Kagome.

"It is such a pity," he said. "I could have used her as another addition to my collection. Well, I guess I'll just have you, then."

"You must be mad to think that I would let you consume me just like that," I said.

He shrugged. "Take your time." In a conversational tone he added: "If you didn't turn her demon, you would have had a chance, but I guess even royalty can get caught in an affection that will hear no reason."

I could not bring myself to stand up and fight him. Something in his voice kept telling me that struggling against the inevitable was of no use. She had said that we would win, but the finger with my ring on it was getting colder by the second and the body that had my name carved on it did not breathe anymore. My hand on Kagome's pulse, I bowed my head down before my enemy, waiting for his final blow.

* * *


	10. Ashes and Rags

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: Raijin helped me very much with this chapter. At first, she didn't understand anything at all, so I had to rewrite and add some things so it's quite obvious what I mean. I hope. You also have to thank her that I didn't leave off at another cliffhanger, after only two pages, because that's exactly what I'd planned to do. I've come to like cliffies. Raijin suggested that I should mention more often that Sesshoumaru is quite naked in this chapter, with lots of skin out in the open. Okay, so to all fangirls among us: He is quite naked in this chapter, though I didn't write it down, aight?

And I've done some research: In order to find out how it feels to be in Sesshoumaru's fur, I've tried to fold a paper crane, only using my right hand. It's not easy, believe me.

Most of this chapter was written around 1 am, so no wonder it's odd.

* * *

**Chapter X – Ashes and Rags**

* * *

In a swift arc, Naraku brought the blade of his new sword before my eyes and held it there for me to see. Coincidentally though, I saw the reflection of Kagome's eyes on the shining steel.

"I decided to call it Sesshoumaru," Naraku said in a conversational tone. "It fits, what do you think? Made from _your_ fang. _The Killing Perfection_." He obviously enjoyed the sound of it, because he repeated it several times. Without shifting the blade, he stepped closer to me. I was still staring at the reflection of Kagome's eyes on the cold steel surface. Naraku's aura was so powerful that it started burning away my armour and clothes. A faint smell of burned hair reached my nose – my own hair, as I might add. I could feel the skin of my face slowly turning red and blistering. If he did not consume me soon, I would probably lose my eye to the insufferable heat that he was radiating. He was too powerful even for me, the great Lord of the Western Lands… but all I saw were Kagome's eyes, and I could not take my gaze off them, even as I was choking on the smell and the pain of my body slowly burning up.

Then there it was – so fast, that a human would not have noticed – perhaps even a demon would have missed it but for me, who was looking for it desperately. The pupils turned from slits to rounds and back again. If there was hope, would I dare to grasp the chance to save us? Would I even want to? Even if it meant losing Kagome and seeing all my plans crumble to dust?

I kept looking, and waited. A long strand of white hair fell on the floor beside me, but I did not flinch, did not blink, not daring to take my gaze away from the blade that was reflecting Kagome's eyes… If there was even a hint of a chance to return Kagome to her previous state, I had to take it… and when the right moment came, I uttered a command, and the necklace released her and fell down into the folds of Kagome's kimono.

Naraku seemed to finally notice the odd silence I was keeping and stopped talking. He was not able to see the fine strands of Kagome's soul that were re-entering her body as her nails went back to their human form and her face returned to her soft, human features within the blink of an eye. The change burned all injury, all scars from her body, even the mark that I had made on her back.

Thinking that she would cast off my name from her skin so easily, I felt a very short bout of rage, which I used to shift my weight and kick Naraku away from me and Kagome, burning my foot in the process. I thought I heard a bone break, but who could say with Naraku? If his leg was broken, he did not let it bother him too much. As I looked at him again, from what I hoped to be a safe distance, he smiled and lifted the sword. No more words were exchanged between us, as we clashed high up in the air, his hands and body burning away my clothes and skin as if it were rice paper, my claws trying to go through his baboon pelt.

I cannot remember much of it, only the regret that I was not able to transform into the Great Dog, because of my missing arm. On the ground, Kagome regained her consciousness and power, and stood up to look at the bodies of her friends scattered around her. When Naraku saw her, in her human form, he landed. I followed and stepped between them, acting as a barrier.

While he was tearing away at me, roasting my hands and arms, but still only playing with me, tiring me, so I would not resist when he consumed me, I felt Kagome approaching from the back. I could not see her, but the heat of her power was scorching my back, just like Naraku's was burning my face and chest.

I was caught in a furnace, burning up between two power-crazed opponents. I knew she did not notice me, the power in her calling to the jewel in Naraku, trying to get to him through me.

This was the point where I must have passed out for a short time, because when I woke up, Kagome and Naraku were standing a little way away from me, staring at each other in threatening silence. They stood there with weapons in their hands at ready, waiting for the other to strike. I found I was leaning on my half brother's body, and was surprised to hear his faint heartbeat. The wound that Kagura had torn into his neck had almost closed, but he could not speak; his vocal cords must still be damaged. _A demon must be thankful even for small blessings_, I thought. The demon healing did not work as fast as it would have for a full demon, but it worked nevertheless. With his eyes, he motioned to his sword and then to the place where Kagome was standing.

With my burning hand, I touched the hilt – only to draw it away very fast. The sword did not accept me even now, in the moment of greatest need. Inuyasha closed his eyes and made a weak attempt at standing up, but gave up quickly. I tried to touch the sword again with the tattered remains of my sleeve wrapped around my hand, but it did not work. Silly thing.

The air pressure suddenly rose to an almost unbearable extent. Inuyasha winced as his ears were pressed to his head hard. Breathing became difficult. Kagome suddenly had an arrow pointed at Naraku, who, with an elegant slash of his right hand painted a red hot arc into the air and released all his demons at once. The wave of power swept Kagome off her feet, and she flew back and landed on me, knocking the air out of my lungs. This time she did notice that she was touching me and kept her powers in check, so I only felt her presence in the warmth of her body and the small prickling along my burning skin that was already starting to heal.

The air went dark above us with thousands of bodies, eyes and teeth. The demons closed in around us once again, and this time I was not certain we could fend them off. Kagome looked around us and saw Inuyasha's sword.

"Can you not take the sword, my lord?" I shook my hand. She shifted and fiddled with her clothes, as if a bee had flown into her sleeve. A second later, her hand emerged from under the silk, a thin, pale line of glittering metal coiling around her fingers…

There was no time for discussion, no time for unnecessary words. We both knew that the sword would not be touched by a full demon, no matter how perilous the situation and how just the cause. Kagome put her arms around my shoulders, embracing me. She closed her eyes, and leaned into me. I could smell her sweat, the silk of her dress; hear her breath and Inuyasha's. She pressed her face lightly against the burning skin of my face. Behind her, through a small opening in the wall of demons, I could see Naraku's self-assured smile. He was quite confident that he was on the winning side today… I hoped he was wrong. I had a taste of blood in my mouth, I'd bitten my own tongue; I was nervous and almost afraid, but I knew this was no moment for hesitation, or worse – pride.

And then Kagome closed the necklace around my neck and turned around to face the threat. The world turned white around me.

* * *

The spell in the necklace is very simple, yet very strong. The person wearing the necklace will be transformed, slowly and painfully, into the very thing that he or she had received the necklace from. They will not be able to leave that person, or hurt them. The necklace is not a gift, not jewellery; it is a weapon. If I had given it to a demon female, she would not have transformed, but would have been unable to hurt or leave me. Kagome, being a human, started to change. When I released the spell, its workings were reversed within moments.

The necklace works for everybody.

* * *

I felt it. I knew it was just the beginning, this numb, uncomfortable feeling of need to be as close to Kagome as possible. The pain had not kicked in yet; I still had time before it took my vision and concentration. I wondered if she had had this need to crawl beneath my skin when she was wearing the necklace. She tried to move away from my lap, but I held on to her. She wriggled to get to Inuyasha's sword with her foot. When she had it, she looked me in the eyes, took a deep breath, pried my hand from her back and pressed the hilt of Tetsusaiga into my palm. We rose to our feet, looking only at each other.

The sword accepted me. There was reluctance, hesitation, even anger, but it seemed to sense the tiny seed of humanity that had been planted in me, and it stayed calm in my hand.

The Wind Scar came upon the demons like a thunderstorm. Truly, a sword that could kill a hundred demons with one strike. I felt a wild surge of power as I slashed at demons, defending Kagome. I felt elated, my swords were nothing like Tetsusaiga, only soft, weak shadows of the ideal killing instrument that I held in my hand now. The sword went through them easily, my advance was unstoppable. No pain could touch me, no wound stop me, as long I had this sword in my hand and Kagome by my side.

In the following silence, the demons were withdrawn back into Naraku's body. I did not see his face, but I like to think that he looked shaken; in his hand, he held the sword that had been made from my fang. I advanced toward him when he came to me. I remember wanting to attack the glowing figure like a wild dog, rip his heart out right through his chest, tearing his ribs apart in the process… until I came too close to him and was reminded of several points that made me wonder if Inuyasha's sword did not have exactly the wrong kind of influence on me.

"You cannot go against this sword, Lord Sesshoumaru," Naraku's voice whispered in my ear, although he was standing several meters away in front of me. "You might have given her back her powers, but _she_ will never be able to touch and purify the jewel, because I already have it – and you know that even if you defeat me, she will leave you… you have no reason to fight, and no reason to live either. You have no strength left, no power. You look like a beggar, burnt and in rags. The sword you are holding is the inferior weapon that you stole – _thief_ – from your inferior brother… and the necklace around your neck will bring you the shame of humanity… _You are nothing_… come to me."

I took another step closer to him, the sword still raised, but only because the sword demanded to be held this way, not because my body wanted to hold it like that. I never heard the sound of the arrow passing close by my ear. The pain woke me up, and the arrow found its target and tore a large hole in the white pelt. Another followed. Kagome was shooting purifying arrows from somewhere behind me.

With cold anger, I walked over to my enemy and started slicing through his defences, killing each and every demon that stood between me and the human within Naraku. He fought with everything he had, sending wave after wave of miasma. The demon healing had stopped when Kagome had put the necklace around my neck, and soon I was in so much pain that I could not have stopped fighting Naraku even if I wanted. My clothes were stained in blood. Finally, everything stopped, and I had time to look up.

Before me, there was a man. He was fairly small, perhaps as tall as Kagome. He was looking at me with greedy eyes in a face that was burned so much that I was wondering how it did not fall apart a long time ago. Without a word, I raised the sword to end his miserable existence… but the sword stopped in mid-air and refused to strike. Tetsusaiga, of course, would not hurt humans. By then, transformation pain and battle wounds caught up with me. My hand was suddenly too weak to hold a sword. It fell to the ground.

This battle proved to be not only devastating for my garden and grounds, but also for my dignity, for, to my shame, I have to admit, when I heard Kagome's footsteps approaching me from behind, I passed out _yet again_.

* * *


	11. Returns

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko et al., not me. I just borrow them to have some fun.

**A/N**: This is the last chapter. I think the story is completed, or rather, this is what I wanted to say about it.

Next thing on my schedule is holidays! I'm going to hang around in Croatia, Germany, France and Italy and have fun.

Thanks to all the readers who have reviewed. You are wonderful!

And thanks to the ever faithful Raijin, who kept beta-reading although she completely forgot what the story was about.

* * *

**Chapter XI – Returns**

* * *

Gods do have a cruel way of joking, or so it seems. The last I saw before I lost consciousness was Naraku, ready to strike me with the sword Sesshoumaru, with a cruel shine in his eyes and a smile upon his burned face that was wiped away just before I closed my eyes. Darkness claimed me and left me wandering through a dull grey landscape in which possibilities started popping up like dandelions, drawing my attention here and there. My feverish brain kept me prisoner of imagination, and some part of me provided me with more and more horrible visions of the future in which I was dead and Naraku reigned supreme.

I came to, covered in cold sweat. The moon, her rays unfiltered by curtains, was shining into the room, directly on my pillow. The dreams dispersed as I looked into the semi-darkness of the chamber. My vision was blurred, as if my eyes could not permeate the night any longer. I remembered the burns I had suffered, and then I felt the necklace on my skin, quite tight around my neck, because it had been made for Kagome's delicate form rather than my larger one. No wonder I was not able to see well in the dark. I was turning into a human.

With a soft hush, a servant girl shoved the door aside and entered with a tray that she put beside my bed. On her knees, she poured tea into two cups, touched her forehead to the floor and then left the room in the small, short steps she was forced to take in her kimono. A second after that, Kagome entered, waited until the girl had closed the door and then came to my futon, where she took place on a cushion and looked at me with eyes clouded by darkness. I could not see as well in the darkness as I used to, but my eyes were still good enough to notice that her jaw had settled back into a weaker, human form, and her nails had gone back to the tame roundness they had had before. Without a word, she helped me up and made me lean against the wall and some cushions. As she started to speak, I closed my eyes and let her voice wash over me. At the same time, I felt her remove the covers from my body and bathe my wounds in a cooling balm. My body hurt all over, the burns and the lacerations, but as long as she was touching my skin, the pain of the transformation coming from the necklace was bearable. Her touch made me want to crawl inside her skin, a feeling mixed with unbearable humiliation, for I was not able to move a single finger.

At first she sang quietly, as if to herself. Then, I opened my eyes again, and she started talking quietly, with the corners of her mouth raised slightly.

"One could not say that he died bravely," she said. "The sword Sesshoumaru really is _your_ fang, my Lord. It arrogantly refused to strike someone unconscious and fell from Naraku's hand. Weak as he was – and apparently Naraku never took the time to mend that burned body of Onigumo's inside of him… or perhaps he did not have the means… the body gave out, and with all the injuries he had received along the way, he went to the ground screaming. It was horrible, horrible. I had him taken to the infirmary along with everyone else. The healers refused to touch him before everyone else had been seen to, and even then they could not help him any more than to ease his suffering. So he was dying for fourteen hours, and he looked very small, at least for someone who had been so powerful. I sat there for a while, at the end. He thought I was Kikyo."

She pulled the covers back over my lap as far as modesty commanded and put a hand on the stump of my left arm that had not been hurt as badly as the other arm. Better than anyone else could, she knew how important it was for me to feel her touch on my skin.

"And so he died. He was weeping and laughing, and I knew that this was Onigumo, only Onigumo dying. Naraku died on the battlefield, the very moment the sword refused to obey him."

"What else happened?" I asked. I was shocked to hear my voice. I sounded raspy, tired, hurt, _touched_ by emotion. She seemed to notice it as well, but she said nothing, only reached over for the tea and helped me have another sip.

"Inuyasha recovered very soon after, and has been a great help distracting Shippo and Rin." Both of us imagined Inuyasha at this kind of social work for a moment. Kagome went on: "Kaede had known that this could be her last battle, so she talked with me a few days earlier, and she gave good advice, told me to continue my studies, and all such. We could not help her, although your healers have done their best. She was taken to the village yesterday, and I expect we will be invited to attend her funeral soon." Kagome's hand trembled lightly on my shoulder, but she did not give in to weakness. I had the impression that she preferred to keep her grief to herself for now.

"As Onigumo fell to the ground, I took the Jewel from him. I had forgotten how strong it was. To think that I have had it inside of me for the longest part of my life. As soon as Onigumo was dead, it cleared up a little, and very soon after that it was untainted again. Did you know that, if you look inside it, you can see Midoriko and the demons in everlasting fight? I don't know if this is just an image imprinted on the jewel, or if it really is Midoriko. I used to imagine that eventually, they would grow tired of fighting and maybe have a cup of tea together, and perhaps make up?" She looked at me attentively. "Would you like some more tea, my Lord?"

"Yes," I said. As she turned to pour some more tea into the cup, her hand seemed unable to lift the teapot at first attempt. She seemed to concentrate, and carefully poured some tea and brought the cup to my lips.

"My body still seems to think that it has demon strength. It is quite difficult sometimes to remember to use a little bit more force without the danger of breaking things apart," she sighed. "We can talk about that later." I nodded, and closed my eyes again to listen to her voice.

"My other hint to Naraku's death had been Sango's child. Onigumo was still alive, you see, but when I tried to find out if the baby was in danger, I could hear nothing. I ran to Miroku, and there was no void in his palm." She laughed a bit, cynically. "I swear, if the void had not been gone then, I would have slit his worthless throat myself to put an end to it." I felt Kagome shrug. "Luckily, it was gone. We tried our best to save Sango, Miroku and the child. The baby seemed fine enough, but Sango stopped breathing every now and then, and we had to have healers with them around the clock. Miroku simply would not wake up, and we were quite desperate. In the meantime, Onigumo died, and your brother had the best idea ever."

My eyes did not open, but the remains of my eyebrows went up in question.

"Honestly, he was brilliant! As I came to give him the Jewel – because I didn't really want it – he said, no, he insisted I use it for Sango and Miroku. I think this was the right thing to do, don't you agree?"

To my horror, I felt an uncomfortable urge to throttle Inuyasha – nothing special with regard to my half brother's endearing personality, but unusual for the situation. I decided to stay quiet and think about it later.

"I made a wish then, and although Sango and Miroku are both still weak, the healers are optimistic."

Kagome then slightly touched the necklace that was still around my neck and said quietly: "We have to thank you for so much, my Lord. It was you and your fang who in the end have truly defeated Naraku. Don't you think it is time for you to grant me permission to remove the necklace?" I opened my eyes very slowly to look at her shadowy face, illuminated only by the light of the full moon. If everything had gone according to plan, this would have been the night where Kagome turned demon for me. Instead, she was offering to free me from the necklace, the pain and excess of emotion it brought me. As I said nothing, she continued:

"My lord, the necklace must come off very soon. Even now, you are weakened and your healing is not going very well. You have been badly burned. The healers are not sure if they can save your right eye, and…" She clasped one hand before her mouth. "If you come too close to being human and then have your demon strength returned, you may not be able to get used to it again. Crushing teacups will be your smallest problem, my Lord." We both thought of Rin. Hurting Rin would be something I would not be able to forgive myself.

"Do you think you will never recover fully from your transformation?" I asked. Kagome just nodded. "Perhaps the time for your transformation was not right;" I said, "but I cannot regret the rest. If you would agree…" Kagome put her other hand over my mouth.

"Say no more, my Lord. I am human again, and I will stay human. May I remove the necklace now, please? You must give permission for me to do it." She took the necklace between her fingers and waited for me to signal consent, but I said nothing.

With some effort, Kagome came to her feet, and after one or two failed attempts managed to lift the folds of her dress over her knees in order to be able to stamp out of the room angrily and close the door as loud as it was possible. Bizarrely, at this moment my only thought was that she would have doubtlessly preferred to have hinged doors instead of sliding screens, for those would have made a more satisfying bang to express her feelings.

* * *

Two days later, I was able to sit up on my bed without help, and hold my bowl and chopsticks. Seeing myself in the mirror for the first time after the battle was something of a shock. It had been necessary to cut my hair where it had not been burned off, so parts of my skull were an angry, hurting red, and the rest was covered by very short, white fluff. The right side of my body, along with my face, was badly burned, and the rest was covered in cuts and bruises. Luckily, no bones were broken except my nose… which was not a bone at all, as Kagome told me. The wounds were getting better in a human pace, which meant that I would never look like myself again, unless I agreed to have the necklace taken off.

It might have been purely a stubborn reaction to Kagome's refusal to become demon, or perhaps simply a means to keep her close by. I had the suspicion that she would leave me the very second I was healthy again. She was spending quite a lot of time with me, all the while drawing in lively colours ghastly mental images of my future human life.

She told me how human society treated those with handicaps, and also those who looked different from the norm. She had no shame at all while trying to convince me to do as was the best for me, reminding me of my honour and duty to the Western Lands.

I was surprised at my own reaction, musing if it had been induced by the necklace itself. If this was the case, then the necklace was a dangerous weapon against demons indeed, and this not only because of the burning pain it induced in my body. I found the changes interesting rather than frightening and observed with fascination as my eyes dulled from golden yellow to a light brown, by no means as dark as Kagome's eyes, but close enough. Soon my fangs would turn into an omnivore set of teeth and my nails would be round, probably only good for scratching mosquito bites.

Rin visited me and sat close by, holding my right hand for a while, trying very hard not to look at my burned face and my broken nose. I saw tears burning in her brown eyes before she left the room, sniffing, on her nurse's hand.

Oddly enough, nothing could change my mind, if it was truly my mind, and nothing could make me have the necklace taken off. If not for Inuyasha, I would have become human out of the pure stubbornness that apparently came with humanity. My obnoxious half brother came in with a suspicious grin on his face and threw himself on the floor next to my bed with a carelessness he would not have employed had I been in full power.

"You look like a pile of rubbish, Your Royal Stubbornness," he opened the conversation. I thought it below my dignity to answer. Inuyasha sighed.

"Kagome asked me to talk to you," he said, "but I told her it would be no good. You've never listened to anyone, have you? Keh." With his nail that was quite unlike my new blunt ones, he scratched 'Sesshoumaru is an idiot' into the black lacquer surface of my low table. Eighteen strokes of my name, and he wrote them perfectly, in reasonably nice calligraphy. "Kagome taught me to write your name, when she told me what you had done… and that's quite disgusting, even for you. Strikes me as primitive. Who would have thought you have it in you to actually carve your stupid name on a girl's back?"

When I said nothing, he went on: "Well, I have nothing to say on this, really. Kagome has told you all this boring stuff about how you have your lands to take care of, and you can't do that as a human, you'll be eaten within a week… well, maybe two, since it's you. You have no-one to take care of them for you. Not _me_, in any case. And then, the kids, of course. Kagome could take care of them once you're dead, and I'll always take care of Kagome, so that will be alright. And you'll be able to wield the Tetsusaiga for the whole remaining fortnight of your life. If you can lift it. Aren't you happy?" He got up into a lotus sitting position that could not be very comfortable, and continued ruining my table. This time he wrote 'Sesshoumaru has got a tiny…' ... but luckily Kagome had not taught him to write this specific character of our language. "I'll probably have Kagome back in no time once you're gone. I mean, she does fancy you, but since you won't be available, and I'm an old favourite of hers I expect we'll get along pretty well. Too bad you won't be here to see all of it."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Telling me all this will not change my mind. If Kagome will not be with me as demon, I will change into a human to stay with her. It really is not that complicated." Inuyasha gave me a surprised look, and inside me, the demon raged at the humanity threatening the very core of me, burning away the superior being I used to be to make space for the human I was becoming, a being damned to live upon its weak instinct and feeble logic rather than the infallible judgement of a demon.

Inuyasha sighed. "You tend to see things all in black and white, pal." He laughed at my expression. "I know you are a dog sometimes. But what I mean is… You know, if you were an honest guy you'd just take Kagome as she is, and have lots of little half-demon kids, and that would be it. I know Kagome would like that. But you've had this I-hate-my-little-brother-thing in your head for far too long to allow yourself to be with Kagome without forcing her to change everything she is… which isn't very fair, if you ask me, but since she asked me to talk some sense into you…" With a sigh, he pulled a small book from his sleeve and threw it onto my lap. I bit back the pain of the impact on my hurting body and blinked slowly. It read _The Admirer's Handbook – Courting for Beginners_. My half brother scratched his nose and got up. On his way to the door he said, without turning around:

"It's really easy. Kagome fancies you, and I want Kagome to be happy. She says she won't change again, and I'm not saying that she's ever going to change her mind. But there is a slim chance that someone who is…" he opened the door, "_charming and honest in his feelings towards the lady_ could make her change her mind eventually. Or so it says in the book. It's really ridiculous, but you might have a small chance she'll forgive you, and take you back, and so on, you know how it works. Even if you _are_ an idiot." With that, he closed the door behind him, just to stick his head into the room a second later: "You know, if you became human, and she stayed with you, you'd never know if she did it out of love… or out of pity? Don't worry; no-one is going to think that you're a wimp for giving up because it hurts too much. I, for one, won't condemn you for giving up…" My expression did not change, but Inuyasha must have seen some hidden sign, for he started laughing loudly and laughed all the way down to the courtyard.

I read _The Admirer's Handbook_ within two hours from cover to cover and back, and it was really a ridiculous book, but I also thought about other things, among which the possibility that Kagome could get back together with Inuyasha played no minor role. Surely I was able to bear the pain of transformation, just like Kagome had done, and I did not care for what Inuyasha said, especially since I knew that he had been taunting me. I knew perfectly well that turning into a human was not a very good idea, in fact it was among the more stupid ones I have had in my life. I suffered a moment of embarrassment when I thought of how stubborn I had been, but then, no-one would ever know of this moment, so it did not matter.

* * *

In the evening, Kagome visited me.

She noticed with amusement the silly things that Inuyasha had carved on my table and listened in silence as I gave my consent to removing the necklace. She smiled, told me that she had considered refusing to remove it, just to scare me, and then released me from its hold.

It started with light coming into my eyes, and my healing powers coming back, erasing all traces of pain and injury from my body. I felt tiny pinpricks in the stump of my left arm, and long claws growing back on my right hand, hair growing where burns had marred my skin. My right eye that had been badly burned became unblurred, and I blinked. I touched the line of my jaw that had gone back to its more edgy, larger form to accommodate my canine teeth and was the only feature that saved me from looking like a girl. I felt as if I had been born again.

Kagome looked at me with understanding, and then clumsily started pulling at my shirt that fell open on the left shoulder. She looked at the stump that had lengthened beyond my elbow.

"This is marvellous, my Lord. You really have done yourself a favour by turning back." She came closer and touched my hair that had only grown a little, barely enough to cover my skull. "You look like a boy. A golden-eyed boy. Your nose is still a little crooked where it was fractured. It looks good, though," she said quietly and reddened for no apparent reason. My thoughts went to the _Handbook_. Perhaps there I would find the reason for her blushing. Kagome touched my chin and her eyes grew large.

"You have hair on your chin," she said accusingly.

"This is what is commonly called a beard, Kagome," I said.

"I-I have always thought demons didn't grow beards," she stammered.

I shrugged and felt for the tiny white hairs. "Usually I remove it before showing myself in public," I said. "There is no reason to appear in careless attire before a lady. Or anyone else, for that matter."

She took my hand as if to stop me from touching my chin. "Stop that," she demanded in a hoarse voice. "You look like a Martini commercial." After a moment's thought, she added: "Like a sexy one, though." She blushed again and hurriedly got on her feet, making an attempt to take the necklace with her. I caught the necklace and held Kagome back.

"Are you leaving me, Kagome?" I asked.

She tugged at the necklace with downcast eyes, never meeting my gaze. After a moment, she let go of the silvery metal link between us.

"I will be gone tomorrow," she said. "I must settle things for Shippo, and Miroku and Sango will soon want to go home, so I need to get their house cleaned up. Kaede's funeral is going to be soon, too. I trust I will see you there? I am going to check if the well is working, and if it is, I'll be going home for a day, maybe two, and then return, if the well will let me come back." Without waiting for an answer, she left me alone, in silence. Outside, the rain started tapping a steady beat on the windowsill, and I caught myself caring if she had an umbrella, and if Inuyasha would be the one taking care that she reached the village safe and dry. For some reason, I didn't mind that thought any longer. Smiling at nothing in particular, I thought that I did not mind.

**THE END**

* * *


End file.
